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Archived: Professional Care Support Services Ltd

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

14 Darley Gardens, Morden, Surrey, SM4 6QF 07861 736857

Provided and run by:
Professional Care Support Services Ltd

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

21 April 2016

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service on 9 September 2015 at which four breaches of legal requirements were found in relation to safe care and treatment, recruitment, the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and good governance. This was because the provider had not suitably assessed and managed some risks to individuals. In addition staff were not always recruited through safe procedures. Staff did not have a good understanding of their responsibilities in relation to people’s capacity to make decisions and give consent and the quality assurance processes in place were ineffective to suitably assess, monitor and improve the service. After the inspection, the registered manager wrote to us with a plan for how they would meet the legal requirements in relation to these breaches.

We undertook this focused inspection on 21 April 2016. We checked the provider had followed their plan and made the improvements they said they would to meet legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Professional Care Support Services Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Professional Care Support Services provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. The people who use the service included older people and people with a learning disability or a physical disability. There were eight people using the service at the time of our inspection. The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At this inspection the registered manager had still not reviewed specific risks to people, mainly related to their health conditions and had not put suitable management plans in place for staff to follow to mitigate any identified risks. However, when we raised our concerns with the registered manager they liaised with people, their relatives and health professionals immediately. The following day they had all the required documentation in place which they sent us for reference.

The registered manager had reviewed recruitment information held on file for all staff and outstanding documentation as required by law. This included evidence of checks of criminal records, previous employment and health conditions.

Care workers had a good understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act (2005) such as the need to obtain people's consent before carrying out their care and how to assess if a person lacked capacity regarding a specific decision and how to support them make decisions if they did. This meant staff were working in accordance with legal requirements to protect people's rights in relation to their mental capacity.

The systems in place for the provider to assess, monitor and improve the service were not always effective because they had not always identified and resolved the issues we found at this, and the last inspection. You can see the action we asked the provider to take in relation to this at the back of this report.

09/09/2015

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 9 September 2015 and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice to give them time to become available for the inspection. This was the first inspection of this service since they registered with CQC on 6 March 2014.

Professional Care Support Services provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. The people who use the service included older people and people with a learning disability or a physical disability. There were seven people using the service at the time of our inspection.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were not always supported by care workers who were recruited safely. Gaps in employment history were not always explored and appropriate checks of people’s character or past performance in a similar role were not always obtained. Information required by law was not always held on care workers files to show that these had been carried out.

The service did not always manage risks to people well because these were not always fully assessed with suitable management plans for care workers to follow as part of keeping people safe. In addition there were risks that people’s medicines were not always managed safely as risk assessments were not always carried out and care plans were not always accurate as to how care workers should support people in this area.

There were enough care workers deployed to meet people’s needs. Care workers received appropriate supervision and appraisal to support them in their roles. A training programme for care workers was in place and the registered manager was arranging further necessary training.

Care workers did not understand their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 regarding what to do if a person lacked capacity to consent. This meant the correct procedure for making decisions in relation to people’s best interests may not have always been made in accordance with the MCA.

People felt safe and care workers understood the signs people may be being abused and how to report these internally and externally, such as to the local authority safeguarding team and CQC.

People and relatives were positive about the service and told us they were satisfied with it. They told us care workers were kind and caring. Care workers knew the needs and preferences of the people they were supporting, although this information was not always recorded in people’s care plans.

People knew how to raise complaints and systems were in place to respond to any complaints made.

People were involved in decisions about their care and were supported appropriately to eat and drink. The provider involved people and care workers in the running of the care home and communicated well with them. Care workers treated people with dignity and respect and were kind to people.

The systems in place for the provider to assess, monitor and improve the service were not always suitable because they had not always identified and resolved the issues we found at this inspection.

At this inspection there were four breaches of regulations. These were in relation to care workers’ recruitment, risk assessments and medicines management, mental capacity and consent and assessing and monitoring and improving the quality of service. You can see the action we asked the provider to take at the back of this report.