CARE 24/7 SOLUTIONS LIMITED

Care 24/7 Solutions Limited is a domiciliary care service, providing personal care to people living in and around Wiltshire. At the time of our inspection there were 22 people using the service. The service supported people living with physical and sensory needs, and older people, including those living with dementia.

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 service did not assess, monitor or manage people's safety well, including against risks of abuse. We also identified concerns about the safe management of medicines and controlling the risks of infection. Staff recruitment practices were not always fully followed in line with the provider's policy and procedure to ensure the safe recruitment of staff. We have made a recommendation about arrangements for staff training, supervision and deployment.

Most people and relatives told us they believed care was safe, and advised they were supported by staff who were kind and compassionate. People commented, “They are very caring” and “[Staff are] generally friendly and they do the job ok”. Some people told us they would benefit from enhanced staff continuity. A relative advised, “The [staff] I've met are nice and my [relative] says they are nice but they change all the time.”

Governance processes had not been operated effectively to assess, monitor and drive improvement in the quality and safety of the services provided. People were supported by a service which lacked effective oversight and auditing by the provider. We received variable feedback from professionals regarding communication and management of the service.

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 did not always support this practice.

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 29 April 2022).

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 the provider remained in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended the provider implement a robust check process to ensure all recruitment steps are followed and that the provider review their systems and processes for the safe management of medicines. At this inspection we found concerns in both these areas.

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 24 October 2019). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to safeguarding and governance. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe 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 has remained requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Care 24/7 Solutions Limited our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

At this inspection we have identified breaches in relation to safety, safeguarding from abuse, recruitment practices, governance and in informing the Commission of information they are required to.

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

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.

Care 24/7 Solutions is a domiciliary care service, providing personal care to people living in and around Swindon. At the time of our inspection there were two people using the service.

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 quality assurance processes in place were informal, irregular and not documented. The provider and registered manager had not carried out any formal reviews of care provision. Formal feedback had not been sought from people, their relatives or staff. At the time of the inspection, there was no improvement plan in place.

The provider’s recruitment policy was not always being followed.

People were cared for by staff who knew how to keep them safe and protect them from avoidable harm. There were enough staff available to meet people's needs. People were supported to take their medicines safely. There was a process in place to report and investigate incidents and accidents.

People's needs were assessed, and care plans were in place. People were cared for by staff who had been trained to carry out their roles and who were knowledgeable about the support people needed. 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’s relatives told us they were cared for by kind and compassionate staff. Staff understood the need to respect people's privacy and dignity.

Staff were knowledgeable about people's support needs as well as people's preferences for how they were cared for. People’s communication needs were met. There was a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to complain if they needed to.

Staff spoke highly of the management team and said the service was a good place to work. One staff member said, “I can talk to [Nominated individual] about anything. She always listens and always helps and gives advice.”

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 08 February 2021and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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

Recommendations

We have recommended the provider implements a robust check process to ensure all recruitment steps are followed and that the provider reviews their systems and processes for the safe management of medicines and updates their oversight accordingly.

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.