About the service Unicorn1care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 11 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
The provider had various audits in place, which had been greatly improved and were more robust than those seen at previous inspections, though these audits did not always identify all concerns in relation to risk assessments.
People’s care plans were regularly reviewed and updated when their needs changed. Safeguarding policies and procedures were being followed. Staffing and recruitment procedures were robust, and staff had adequate travel time built in between calls. Medicines were safely managed, and necessary infection control procedures were being followed.
People were involved in creating their care plans and oral health care plans were in place. Complaints were investigated and resolved in line with their policy. The service provided end of life training for staff and had an end of life policy in place.
Risks were identified and emerging risks were acted upon, however, risk assessments were not always in place for people’s health conditions, which meant risk had not always been adequately assessed. We have made a recommendation about the provider ensuring necessary risk assessments were in place.
Staff spoke positively about the management of the service, and the registered manager told us they had an open-door policy. Regular staff meetings, newsletters and emails ensured staff were kept up to date with any changes. The provider sought feedback from people who used the service, family and staff and took action when needed.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement at the last comprehensive inspection (published 18 April 2019). A targeted inspection was also carried out where we did not change the rating (published 2 October 2020). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 21, 22 and 27 March 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve. During a previous targeted inspection some improvements were identified.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, responsive and well-led which contain those requirements. 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 changed from requires improvement 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 Unicorn1care Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.