Diversity Social Care Ltd

Updated 13 January 2021

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.

Service and service type

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

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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours' notice. 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 on 9 December 2020 and ended on 18 December 2020. We visited the office location on 11 December 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection, which included the provider’s action plan they had submitted after the previous focused 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.

During the inspection

We requested the provider send information to us prior to our site visit. This included information on staff training, staff meetings, information to support the monitoring of quality and assurance, and key policies and procedures.

We spoke with two family members by telephone on the 16 and 18 December 2020 whose relatives had commenced or recommenced using the service since our previous focused inspection.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures. We looked at documents relating to the governance of the service, which included the response of quality assurance surveys sent out by the provider.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We asked them to submit information as to a person’s care and up to date information detailing staff training.

Updated 13 January 2021

About the service

Diversity Social Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service. The service provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were eight children, younger people and adults using the service. The service supports people with a range of needs, including physical and learning disabilities, and conditions associated with old age.

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

Staff recruitment, induction and training was flawed, which meant people were cared and supported by staff who had not always undergone a robust recruitment process, and had not received the appropriate training and guidance to provide safe care. Systems and processes to assess risk were not consistently implemented, and guidance for staff on how to reduce risk was not sufficiently documented. This placed people at risk of receiving unsafe care.

The registered manager had not kept the quality of the service provided under review. Policies and procedures had not been followed, and where potential shortfalls had been noted, insufficient action had been taken to bring about improvement. Systems to monitor the quality of care were not systematically or effectively implemented. The support of staff through training and ongoing supervision had not been ensured, and the seeking of people’s views about the service were not routinely sought, and views when received were not analysed to drive improvement.

Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding, and how and who to report concerns too. Staff had a good level of knowledge as to people’s needs, and how they cared and supported people. People and family members spoke positively about the care provided, stating they felt safe as they were supported by a core group of staff who knew them well, who arrived on time and who they had developed positive relationships with.

People and family members spoke positively of the care they had received during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the measures taken by staff to keep them safe, which included staff wearing Personal Protective Equipment [PPE]. People who were prescribed medication told us staff did not support them to manage this aspect of their care, as they managed it themselves or received support from family members.

People and family members were positive about the quality of the care they received, and spoke positively of the attitude and approach of staff in the delivery of care. Many people shared information as to how positive relationships developed with staff had contributed to their receiving good care.

People, family members and staff spoke positively of the registered manager. Reflecting on their commitment to provide reliable and good quality care.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 1 May 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted due to information received regarding staff training not being up to date. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the keys questions of safe and well-led.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so

We have identified breaches in relation to management of risk to ensure people’s safety and the governance of the service at this inspection.

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

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve documentation to support the safety of service users. We will work with the 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.