24 May 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Local Homecare is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes in the community. At the time of our inspection there were 36 people using the service.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives told us they felt safe using the service. People's needs were thoroughly assessed to ensure safe and effective care. There were enough staff available to meet people's needs. People and their relatives told us staff arrived at the scheduled time and stayed for the specified period. The provider had a robust recruitment process to ensure suitable staff were employed. People were supported to take their medicines safely. Staff followed the correct infection control practices.
New staff received a comprehensive induction programme and all staff had completed a range of training which gave them the skills and knowledge to care for people in their own homes. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
The service was well managed. The registered manager was knowledgeable and responsive to feedback about the service. Governance systems were in place to ensure all aspects of the service were reviewed and checked regularly. However, systems to monitor accidents and incidents and lessons learnt required review.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 18 February 2020).
At our last inspection we found two breaches of regulation in relation to medicines and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to tell us what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was now meeting both of these regulations.
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed to seek assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.