Background to this inspection
Updated
11 November 2023
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection consisted of 3 inspectors. Two inspectors visited the office location and 1 inspector called people and relatives.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
Inspection activity started on 24 August 2023 and ended on 06 September 2023. We visited the location’s office on 24 August 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection
We visited the service’s main office. We spoke with 6 people and relatives who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 7 members of staff including the registered manager, office staff and support staff. We reviewed a range of records including 6 peoples care and support plans and medication records. We also reviewed a range of documents relating to the running of the service, this included audits and 5 staff files.
Updated
11 November 2023
About the service
Vibrant Homecare Thanet is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to older people, people who have a physical disability and people who have dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people using the service but only 17 who received the regulated activity of personal care. 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’s medicines had not always been managed safely. There had been a number of medicines errors including giving too much or too little of the medicines people were prescribed. We found gaps in people’s risk assessments, for example, care plans lacked detail for people who were diabetic and what to do if their blood sugars were too high or too low. However, this was addressed by the registered manager during inspection.
People told us they were not always happy with their call times, the registered manager was aware of this and had taken action to address this prior to the inspection.
Peoples needs had not always been fully assessed, for example, a falls risk assessment was not in place for someone who had previously fallen. People’s care and support plans were not consistently person centred. We found some sections of people’s care plans were copied and pasted from other care plans and were not reflective of people’s individual needs.
People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.
It was not always clear if the provider was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). The registered manager told us that everyone had capacity to consent to their care, however documentation was not always in place to support this.
Governance processes were not always effective. Audits and checks were in place for areas such as medicines, and shortfalls had been identified, however, errors of underdosing and overdosing were still happening.
People and relatives told us the staff were caring and supportive.
Staff understood how to safeguard people from abuse. People and their relatives told us they felt safe. Staff had completed training in areas such as manual handling, safeguarding and first aid to ensure they could support people safely.
The service worked well with other agencies such as people’s GP and district nurses to ensure people received the right care and support.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 23 January 2023 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted due to it being an unrated service
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We have identified breaches in relation to managing people’s medicine and good governance at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
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 work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.