Plum Care Ltd

Plum Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care support to people living within their own homes. The service was providing care and support to approximately 77 people at the time of the inspection. These included older people, people living with dementia and younger adults.

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 were not always protected from risks associated with their care and support as risks were not always comprehensively identified, assessed, and documented within their care plans. Systems and processes in place for managing and administering medicines were not always safe. The service did not always work within the principles of the MCA. Care plans did not always identify and or reflect details of individual preferences or contain correct information about their needs, wishes and the support they needed. Care plans and records did not include information regarding people’s end of life care, wishes and preferences.

The service was not always well managed. Systems and processes in place for monitoring the quality and safety of the service were not effective in identifying the issues and concerns we found at this inspection.

We have made a recommendation to the provider that they refer to best practice and up to date guidance in relation to staff recruitment and to ensure there are systems in place to monitor this. We have made another recommendation that regular audits of their ECM (electronic call monitoring) data are undertaken to ensure any identified themes and trends relating to people receiving their calls when requested are promptly addressed.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 18 July 2019).

At this inspection, we have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well Led sections of this report. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Why we inspected

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to person-centred care, need for consent, safe care and treatment, and good governance. We have also made two recommendations.

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 standard 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.

Plum Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to adults and older people living within their own homes. Not everyone using the service may receive the regulated activity; personal care. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service

People and their relatives spoke very positively about the care and support they received. Staff communicated and interacted well with people and had built good relationships with them.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe. Safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and procedures were in place and staff were aware of how to keep people safe. People were protected from identified risks and plans were in place to manage risks safely in the least restrictive way. There were arrangements in place to manage medicines safely and staff followed appropriate infection control practices to prevent the spread of infections. Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work. There were sufficient staff available to meet people's needs. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to support people appropriately. Staff were supported through induction, training and supervision.

People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet where this was part of the planned care. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People and their relatives were involved and consulted about their care and support needs. People had access to health and social care professionals as required. People were supported to access community service and to participate in activities of their choosing that met their needs.

Staff worked with people to promote their rights and understood the Equality Act 2010; supporting people appropriately addressing any protected characteristics. There were systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service. The service worked in partnership with health and social care professionals and other organisations to ensure appropriate support was provided to individuals.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This is the first time we have inspected the service.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

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.