Archived: Homecare4U Worcester

Updated 13 January 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 7 December 2017 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection activity started on 5 December 2017 and ended on 13 December 2017. It included speaking with people, relatives on the telephone. We visited the office location on 7 December 2017 to see the registered manager and staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. The inspection team consisted of one inspector. As part of the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications that had been submitted. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We contacted the local authority to understand if they had any relevant information to share with us.

The inspection was prompted in part by concerns raised by previous members of staff. We used the information to inform our inspection planning.

We spoke with five people who used the service and eight relatives who supported their family member with the management of their care. We also spoke with four care staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager. We also spoke with the operations manager and a social worker who regularly was involved with people who used the service. We looked at aspects of nine people’s care records and medication records. We also looked at staffing rotas the registered manager’s complaints procedure, compliments, and audits completed by the registered manager.

Updated 13 January 2018

This inspection took place on 7 December 2017 and was announced. We gave the registered manager notice of our intention to undertake an inspection. This was because Homecare4u Worcester provides personal care for people who live in their own homes and we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office.

This was the first comprehensive inspection for this service.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, people living with dementia, mental health impairments, physical disabilities, sensory impairment, and younger adults.

Not everyone using Homecare4u Worcester receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. At this inspection we found that 30 people were receiving this type of support. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager in post when we inspected this service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People did not consistently receive their visits as planned. People we spoke with told us they occasionally had not received the support they needed. The registered manager and the operations manager were reviewing to improve their systems to ensure people received their visits. We found guidance for the administering of medicines was not always clear. People were not assured they would receive their support in a safe way.

People had clear risk assessments and were supported by sufficient staff. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and protect them from infection through their practice. The registered manager investigated accidents and incidents; however these steps were not always recorded to ensure continuous improvements.

People and their relatives told us there was a clear assessment process and people had the support they needed. People were able to make their own decisions and staff supported them to be as independent as possible. When people needed support with food and drink staff promoted a healthy lifestyle. The management team worked with other organisations when they needed to, and ensured health professionals were involved as required.

The provider did not consistently demonstrate a caring attitude by ensuring people were aware if their visits were cancelled and by providing regular care staff. People were supported by caring staff who listened to people and met their needs. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and treated them with dignity and respect.

Records were not consistently clear to give guidance to new staff, however information was shared by the registered manager before staff supported people. People said staff were flexible and met their needs. Complaints were investigated and actioned and lessons learnt shared with staff, however all the actions were not consistently recorded.

Systems in place to monitor the quality of the care did not consistently identify short falls to ensure quality care was delivered. The registered manager knew people’s needs well and regularly talked to people about the quality of their care. Staff said they were well supported and had regular meetings to share best practice ideas.