Archived: Passionate about Care

Updated 11 January 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission at the time of the inspection. There was a manager in place who had taken up this role in September 2019 and was supported by the provider. The manager had commenced the registration process with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Notice of inspection

We gave notice of the inspection because and we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection. There was a delay in visiting the site because the service had moved offices and we were unable to carry out the inspection due to a registration issue. Inspection activity started on 30 October 2019 and ended on 27 November 2019. We visited the office location on 25 November 2019.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service and eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the provider, manager, one supervisor and six care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 11 January 2020

About the service

Passionate about Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service was supporting 63 people at the time of the inspection, including older people, those living with dementia, people with a physical disability 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. 62 people were supported with personal care at the time of the inspection.

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

People and their relatives told us they were safely supported by staff. The management of medicines given ‘as required’ did not follow current best practice guidance and further detail was needed to guide staff on the safe administration of these medicines. We have made a recommendation about this. Records relating to risks about people required some further detail. However, people were mostly supported by familiar and consistent staff who knew their needs and understood how to meet these safely. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs, and safe recruitment practices were carried out. Staff acted to protect people from abuse and to prevent the spread of infections. Incidents and accidents were investigated and learning from these was used to prevent a reoccurrence.

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. However, records about people’s legal representatives and consent, required improvement. We have made a recommendation about this.

People’s needs were assessed, and care was planned to meet these. People were satisfied with the support they received with eating and drinking and were helped to access healthcare support when needed. Staff completed an induction into their role, competency assessments and supervision, to support them to care for people effectively. Staff completed some training prior to supporting people which was considered mandatory by the provider. A programme of on-going training was in place. However, not all staff had completed this training which was in progress.

People and their relatives told us staff were kind and caring. Staff knew people’s needs and preferences, involved people in decisions and provided respectful care.

People’s care plans were person centred and people told us they were involved in developing these plans, which were regularly reviewed. People’s communication needs were known and met. Complaints had been investigated and responded to. The provider was developing their approach to end of life care. However, no one was receiving end of life care at the time of our inspection.

The service did not have a registered manager in post, but the manager had started the process to apply for registration. Some notifications which are required to be sent to CQC had not been submitted. These were submitted following the inspection and the manager has assured us any further relevant incidents will be notified, as required. The system used to identify and manage risks to the quality of the service had not identified all the issues we found. We have made a recommendation about this. Since the service was first registered with CQC, it had increased the number of people it provided support to. The provider and manager worked closely together to manage changes and maintain a personalised service for people and staff. Feedback from staff and people was positive about the leadership of the service.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 13/09/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Enforcement

We have identified one breach in relation to the provider’s failure to submit notifications of incidents to CQC.

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