Archived: Homecare4U Worcester

Homecare4U Worcester is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 27 people in their own homes 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

Staff did not always sign people’s medicine records to evidence these were administered. It was also not always clear whether people were administering their own medicines or not. Staff were knowledgeable about their responsibility to report any abusive practice. Risks were assessed and staff were aware of the provider’s infection control procedures.

People did not always receive a service at a time suitable to them to ensure their individual needs were met. People did not always know who would be providing their care and did not receive consistency regarding staff attending the call.

Management systems and audits were not sufficiently robust to identify shortfalls in the service or to make and sustain improvement.

People’s needs were assessed before they commenced a service with the provider. Staff reported improvements in the training provided to ensure they had the skills and knowledge needed to care and support people. People were supported where needed with their dietary needs and accessing healthcare provision.

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.

People were supported by staff who were kind and usually ensured their privacy and dignity was respected. People were able to comment upon the care they received and were listened to.

Different ways to ensure staff were able to communicate with people were provided. Complaints about the service were investigated and acted upon to prevent a reoccurrence.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service was registered with us on 12/12/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to the safety of people in relation to medicine management and the governance of the service to ensure people received safe and effective care.

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

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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.