Archived: Homecare4u Midlands

Updated 13 September 2019

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 team consisted of one inspector and an 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 had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. At the time of the inspection the registered manager had applied to cancel their registration as they were moving to one of the provider’s other locations.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started and ended on 30 July 2019. We visited the office location on 30 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, the area manager and four care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four 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.

Updated 13 September 2019

About the service

Homecare4u Midlands is a domiciliary care service providing care to 52 people at the time of the inspection. 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

Systems around medicines management required improvement. We identified there had been instances where medicine administration records (MAR) had not been signed. We found failings in the provider’s quality assurance systems around medicines management to ensure action taken on identified shortfalls resulted in improvement. For one person we identified an increased risk regarding pressure and skin care arrangements and formal assessment of these risks were needed. People told us that care staff always turned up for their visits however we did receive some comments that indicated call times could be improved.

People told us that they felt safe using the service and staff were confident that any concerns would be dealt with appropriately. Where safeguarding concerns had been raised, they had been responded to and acted on appropriately. The provider had an electronic call monitoring system where staff logged in and out of their calls, which enabled care staff visits and punctuality to be monitored. Staff followed infection control guidance and had access to personal protective equipment.

Staff were knowledgeable about their role and told us they received sufficient training. Staff felt supported in their role. People who used the service told us that staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect. We saw the provider had contacted the necessary health and social care professionals when people's health deteriorated

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.

Where complaints had been received, they had been responded to appropriately and analysed for any lessons to be learnt. Accidents and incidents were routinely recorded and acted upon. Information was analysed for any trends and actions were taken to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. A number of quality audits were in place to drive improvement in the service.

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 requires improvement. Since this rating was awarded the services has moved premises. This service was registered with us on 28/09/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date the service was registered with us.