Because We Care Northampton

Because We Care Northampton is a domiciliary care agency providing support to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of inspection, four people were receiving personal care support.

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

People were happy with the care they received. Staff treated people well, with kindness and were thoughtful and empowering. However, there were failings in relation to the management, governance and oversight of the service. The registered manager had failed to embed adequate governance structures to effectively review the service to ensure people received safe care and support. Staff did not have adequate training or supervision and the recruitment procedures did not support the safe delivery of care.

Improvements were required to ensure people received safe care. Risk assessments did not cover all of people’s known risks or provide sufficient guidance for staff about how to manage those risks. Opportunities for learning were limited as staff meetings and discussions were not recorded. People did not have regular reviews of their care.

Improvements were required to ensure people’s care plans were consistent and people were given the same opportunities to have personalised support for them; this included the opportunity to express their end of life care wishes.

Staff understood how to report safeguarding matters and people were supported with their medicines adequately. The service offered limited support to people with their nutritional needs however where necessary, this was provided. Staff ensured peoples’ healthcare needs were well managed.

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, the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice as mental capacity assessments were not always completed when required.

A complaints system was in place but had not yet been required. People understood they could make a complaint and felt able to do so. The registered manager was keen to ensure people received good care.

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 30/11/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well Led sections of this full report.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to staff recruitment, training and supervision and the lack of governance in the service.

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