LCS Portsmouth

LCS Portsmouth is a domiciliary care agency which provides support and personal care to people living in their own home. 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. At the time of our inspection 20 people were receiving a regulated activity.

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

Although people that received care from LCS Portsmouth were generally happy with the care they

received, we found shortfalls in the safety and management of the service which placed people at risk of harm.

The provider's quality assurance processes were not effective and had failed to identify concerns we found and improve the quality and safety of the services provided.

Not all risks for people had been fully assessed and plans put in place to mitigate those risks as far as possible. Where risk assessments were in place these had not been regularly reviewed to ensure risk mitigation measures remained appropriate or additional risk assessments were implemented when required.

Although staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests to have maximum choice and control of their lives the systems in the service did not ensure people’s legal rights under mental capacity legislation were fully met.

Recruitment procedures were not always effectively followed to ensure only suitable staff were employed. Staff told us they felt supported however, formal processes to ensure staff were supervised according to the provider’s policy were not being followed.

Staff had not been assessed as competent to administer medicines safely. Procedures were not in place or followed to ensure medicines were always been managed safely.

People told us they felt safe when receiving a care service and staff and the registered manager were aware of their safeguarding responsibilities.

Staff told us they always had enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and had not experienced a shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic. They described how and when they would use PPE which reflected current guidance.

People and their family members were all positive about the caring nature of the staff. People told us they were always treated with dignity and respect. People felt able to express their views and request additional tasks be completed if required.

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

This service was registered with us on 8 March 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

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 monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to risk assessment, staff recruitment, medicines management, MCA and quality monitoring of the service at this inspection.

We have recommended that the provider review their procedures to ensure care plans are regularly reviewed to ensure they accurately reflect people's needs.

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

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.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.