Community Outreach

Updated 2 December 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and a regulatory co-ordinator.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced.

We gave the service short notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 17 October 2023 and ended on 30 October 2023. We visited the location’s office on 17 and 26 October 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We met with the manager, who is also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with 6 members of care staff.

We looked at written records, which included 2 people’s care records and 2 staff files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the manager to validate evidence found. This included reviewing policies and procedures.

Updated 2 December 2023

About the service

Community Outreach is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to mostly older people living in their own homes in Sheffield. At the time of our inspection there were 8 people using the service. 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

There was a lack of oversight and governance by the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. Checks and audits were not effective or completed to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

Risks to people were not adequately assessed to keep them safe. Medicines were not safely managed. Medication administration charts were not audited correctly, and action was not taken to address errors promptly.

Staff did not always have sufficient guidance in place to ensure people's health needs were met in a consistent and safe way. Staff did not always receive sufficient training to help them carry out their roles. People had provided feedback to the manager; however, no action had been taken to analyse this or take any action.

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 safeguarded from risk of abuse. The provider's recruitment processes helped to make sure they only employed suitable staff. People were usually visited by the same staff who they liked and knew their needs and how they liked to be supported. People were supported to eat and drink healthily. People were encouraged to remain independent and their privacy and dignity was respected.

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 (published 13 October 2021).

At our last inspection we recommended the manager consider current guidance on gaining consent where people lack capacity and to update people’s care records to evidence this. At this inspection we found the provider had made improvements.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the management of the service. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective, and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service remains requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and governance at this inspection.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from 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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.