Archived: Firstpoint Homecare - Leicester

Updated 30 October 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We undertook an announced focused inspection of Firstpoint Healthcare-Leicester on 6 September 2018. This inspection was done to check the provider had taken action to make improvements to meet legal requirements to comply with warning notices issued by CQC. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Prior to our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. At the site visit we spoke with the person who is currently overseeing and managing the service. Following the inspection we spoke with one person using the service, four relatives of people using the service and with three members of staff.

We also looked at the care record of three people using the service, their medicines record, two staff recruitment files and training records. We examined a range of records relating to the running of the service including quality audits and monitoring documentation.

Updated 30 October 2018

We visited Firstpoint Homecare - Leicester on the 6 September 2018, the inspection was announced. We gave the provider 24 hours' notice of our visit, as we wanted to be sure that we had access to records and documentation that are stored at the office location. The service is registered to provide care and support to older adults and younger disabled adults in their own homes.

When we last visited the service on 9 January 2018, we found multiple breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The service was, at that inspection, rated as Requires Improvement.

Following the last inspection we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key questions of Safe and Well Led. At this inspection we found the provider was no longer in breach of regulations, but still required further improvements. We will assess this at a later date.

At this inspection we found that people using the service were protected from harm as the provider had processes in place to ensure their safety. Staff were aware of their responsibilities in relation to protecting people from abuse. They had received appropriate training to support their understanding of any safeguarding issues.

The manager currently overseeing the service was aware of their responsibility to report any issues of concern to both the CQC and the local safeguarding teams. There were clear processes in place to ensure lessons were learnt following any incidents or events, however, it remains to be seen if these are sustainable over time.

Any risks to a person's safety were clearly identified with measures in place to eliminate or reduce such risks. In the main, there were sufficient numbers of staff to keep people safe, however, more recently this has not always been the case due to staff absence.

People's medicines were managed safely and people were protected from the risk of infection through good hygiene practices and staff knowledge of reducing the risks of cross infection.

Recruitment processes ensured only staff who were suitable to work in the care sector were employed. This supported the safety of people using the service.

Staff knew what to do if they had concerns about the safety or well-being of any of the people using the service.

The people we spoke with said they felt safe as a result of the care and support they received.

The service was currently being led by an interim manager who had visited people to gain their views on the service. People and staff told us that regular spot checks were completed on the quality of the service.

There were quality assurance systems in place to monitor the efficiency of the service being provided, however, these were not always robust enough to show shortfalls in a timely manner.