Archived: Perfect Care - Gateshead

CCS Gateshead is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 165 people using the service. 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

Medicines had not always been managed safely; medicines documents were not always completed correctly and medicines audits had not identified the issues. The provider introduced a new electronic system during the inspection which included functionality to identify errors in the future.

Risks to people's safety were assessed however, care plans were not regularly reviewed which meant some information was out of date.

Staff were recruited safely and staff were suitably trained to carry out their roles. People told us staff did not always wear masks when caring for them. Staff received regular training, supervision and appraisal.

Systems were in place to safeguard people from abuse. People told us they felt safe with their carers although sometimes they had different carers which they were less happy about.

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. People received personalised support based on their needs and preferences.

The registered manager and provider had governance systems in place. Lessons were learnt from incidents and a continuous improvement plan was in place.

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 15 December 2020).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to late or missed calls. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for CCS Gateshead on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

CCS Gateshead is a domiciliary care agency which provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 172 people using the service.

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

At the last inspection there were concerns around the timeliness of staff visits to people’s homes and the number of missed visits. At this inspection the provider had significantly reduced the number of missed visits and people’s satisfaction levels had improved. Most people said staff turned up on time. However, some people found staff turned up late and this was particularly evident on a weekend.

The organisation of staffing rotas was not always efficient. This led to staff arriving late for some visits or cutting visits short. People were not always made aware of changes to the times that staff would be visiting.

At the last inspection we found the registered manager had overlooked some concerns. At this inspection we noted improvements had been made to general complaint handling, but some people remained dissatisfied with the way their concerns were dealt with.

The regional operation director said they would review how travel time was incorporated into rotas, revisit people's preferred times for visits, ensure any changes to planned times for visits was clearly communicated to the relevant people and all concerns were acknowledged.

At the last inspection improvements were required to care records to ensure they accurately reflected people’s care and support needs. At this inspection we found improvements had been made. People's care needs were thoroughly assessed. The care plans and risk assessments were very detailed and person -centred.

Pressures on the service had increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this had led to increased levels of sickness or the need for staff to self-isolate. Every staff member was committed to assisting people to have a good quality of life and all available staff had pulled together to cover all the care packages.

Medicines were administered in a safe manner. Systems were in place, which monitored how the service operated and ensured staff delivered appropriate care and treatment.

Staff took steps to safeguard people and promote their human rights. Incidents were dealt with appropriately and lessons were learnt, which helped to keep people safe. When necessary, external professionals were involved in individual people’s care.

Appropriate checks were completed prior to staff being employed to work at the service.

The senior management team completed comprehensive audits of the service and constantly looked for areas for improvement.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (report published 22 November 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had made improvements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has improved to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for CCS Gateshead on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

CCS Gateshead is a domiciliary care agency which provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 171 people using the service.

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

The provider has provided services to people in Gateshead since 2015 and has moved the office base on three occasions. When they first started to provide services for people living in Gateshead, concerns were identified, particularly around managing the care packages. Over the last three years they have closely considered how improvements could be made and implemented plans to address these concerns.

Since the move to the new offices we found CCS Gateshead has clearly grown quicker than was forecast in their business plan. They were contracted to provide more hours more of care and support than they anticipated and although the provider was in the process of recruiting more staff, the existing staffing levels allowed very little flexibility. People found that, particularly on an evening and weekend, this led to issues around the timeliness of staff calls to people’s homes to provide support. The management team were reviewing how staff were deployed and had begun creating a team of care staff who would be utilised to cover gaps.

People's health needs were thoroughly assessed, however, with only two staff responsible for reviewing and updating them we found they had not been able to ensure care records for all 171 people were accurate. The provider had identified this issue and was in the process of employing more staff to undertake this task. The registered manager understood how to investigate and resolve complaints. However, at times, because of the lack of administrative support and their workload, they had overlooked some concerns.

Staff had received appropriate training and supervision, which aided their ability to effectively support people’s need. Medicine was administered in a safe manner. Systems were in place, which monitored how the service operated and ensured staff delivered appropriate care and treatment.

The registered manager and staff demonstrably showed that people were valued and respected. Staff were passionate about providing an effective service. 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. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff took steps to safeguard vulnerable adults and promote their human rights. Incidents were dealt with appropriately and lessons were learnt, which helped to keep people safe. When necessary, external professionals were involved in individual people’s care.

Appropriate checks were completed prior to staff being employed to work at the service.

The registered manager and senior management team carried out lots of checks to make sure that the service was effective and constantly looked for ways to improve the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was inadequate (18 May 2016). Since this rating was awarded the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.