Archived: Complete Care Services Chorley

Complete Care Services (Chorley) provide care and support to people in their own homes in both the Chorley and Leyland areas. At the time of the inspection there were 53 people receiving personal care.

People's experience of using this service and what we found

People's medicines had not always been managed safely. Some staff had made repeated errors with some medicines. People told us they felt safe as a result of the care they received and did not feel rushed by staff. People were supported by trained staff who had been recruited safely.

People had not always been protected from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. The provider had not always reported incidents to the local authority safeguarding team.

People told us they had confidence in the service and felt it was well organised. We found management arrangements were not effective and did not comply with the regulations. The manager had not ensured they had effective oversight of care practice and records. Staffing roles were unclear and we had not received information we requested as part of the inspection.

Rating at the last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement, published (9 January 2020). We had identified breaches of the regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. The provider had completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve to at least good. At this inspection we found not enough improvement had been made and the service remained in breach of the regulations. We will describe what we will do about the repeat requires improvement in the follow up section below.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on January 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe management of medicines and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained the same. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Complete Care Chorley on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection.

We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, safeguarding people and good governance. Full information about CQC's regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

You can see what action we have asked the provider take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

Complete Care Services (Chorley) provide care and support to people in their own homes in both the Chorley and Leyland areas. At the time of the inspection there were 45 people receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they felt safe as a result of the care they received, however we found people's medicines had not always been managed safely. There were gaps in records which meant we could not be confident medicines had been given as prescribed. There had been a lack of information about medicines needed on a 'when required' basis, which would help staff know when to offer the medicines and the correct dose. This meant people could have been at risk of avoidable harm. People had been supported to manage other risks by staff who had been recruited safely.

People's needs had been fully assessed prior to them receiving service, people told us they felt staff knew what they were doing and how to support them. Staff received regular training pertinent to their role and had supervision from the management team. People told us staff always asked their permission before providing personal care.

People told us they found the staff to be kind and caring. People felt staff respected them and made an effort to ensure they put them at ease. People had been supported to maintain their independence and were involved in making decisions about their care.

People received person centred care which reflected their needs and preferences. Care records included details about the persons' life experiences and cultural and religious needs. Staff were familiar with people's equality needs and had received diversity training. People had been informed how to raise their concerns and complaints. People told us they felt they were listened to when they raised a concern.

The provider's quality assurance systems had not been followed. People's care records and staff practice had not been effectively checked, the registered manager did not have good oversight of the service and issues we had found during the inspection had been missed. No harm was identified, however people had been at risk of avoidable harm. Staff had mixed views about the effectiveness of leadership in the service.

Rating at the last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 20 September 2017). Since this inspection, the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the safe management of medicines and the providers' governance and quality assurance systems. We have made a recommendation in relation to mitigating risks.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.