Utmostcare Limited

Utmostcare Limited is a service providing care and support to people in their own home. The service offered both regular daily visits to people receiving personal care and live-in staff members providing a 24-hour support service. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 33 people. 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

People were protected from the risk of abuse and people told us they felt safe. We found other risks to people using the service were not clearly identified and managed. We also identified concerns in relation to the safe management of medicines. Staff had access to sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) and received training in infection control, however risk assessments lacked sufficient detail in relation to managing risks of infection and the use of cleaning products.

Systems were in place for staff recruitment, induction and training, with ongoing support and monitoring via supervisions, spot checks and staff meetings. We have made a recommendation in relation to obtaining staff employment histories. We have also made a recommendation in relation to continuity of staff deployment, to ensure people receive care from staff who understand their needs and have sufficient travel time to consistently meet preferred visit times.

People's needs were assessed prior to the delivery of care. We have made a recommendation in relation to person-centred care planning. People told us they received care from staff who were kind, caring and treated them with dignity. Staff spoke about people with respect and understood the importance of protecting people’s privacy and seeking consent.

Staff told us they were supported by the management of the service. The service and provider had processes in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. We found however these systems had not been fully effective in identifying the concerns we found. Systems were in place to respond to concerns or complaints, and people told us the management of the service was easily accessible.

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 but we have made a recommendation in relation to how people’s mental capacity is described within care records.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 15 February 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, effective, responsive 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.

The service was responsive to our feedback and told us about actions they were taking to mitigate risks, including additional staff training and increased auditing of the service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

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

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.