Southview Home Care

Southview Home Care is a domiciliary care service, supporting adults in the community who require assistance with personal care. At the time of our inspection, 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. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were eleven people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People’s individual risks were identified through initial assessment. However, the necessary risk assessments, associated with these risks, were either incomplete or missing from people’s care files. Despite this, staff had an understanding of people’s care and support needs and no one had been placed at risk.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. However, the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

People’s mental capacity was not assessed in line with the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Southview Home Care’s own policy. For people who were subject to restrictions, mental capacity assessments and best interest decision making processes had not been carried out. This meant care was not being provided in line with the MCA.

We found evidence staff were supportive and ensured people had control and choice in their lives. For example, people making their own choices on how their care and support should be carried out.

Systems and processes were not robust enough to ensure good oversight of the service as a whole. They had not identified the issues found during this inspection. Although staff had enough information to provide safe care, they had to go to several sources to get a complete picture of the person they were supporting. We found no evidence of harm caused by this, and all the information was available to staff whenever they needed it via an electronic system.

Health and social care professionals raised concerns about poor communication from the service and felt the provider was not always proactive in developing professional relationships with them. One comment included, “[Provider’s name’s] heart is in the right place… QAIT (Quality Assurance and Improvement team) involvement has been offered in the past but declined by the provider.” Local authority QAIT support services to implement robust systems and processes to ensure people receive appropriate person-centred care and support. Following our inspection, the provider requested contact details for QAIT, and told us they would work with them.

People felt safe and supported by staff in their homes. Comments included, “The carers are wonderful. I am very happy with them. They keep me safe.” A relative commented, “The carers keep [person’s name] safe.” Staff demonstrated an understanding of what might constitute abuse and knew how to report any concerns they might have.

Initially, when the service began, there had been issues with missed visits. This was due to issues with staffing and the provider taking on too many care packages. An advisory notice was put in place by the local authority as a supportive mechanism. This advisory notice has since been lifted. Lessons had been learnt by the provider and they were more mindful of the services’ capacity and capability to meet people’s care and support needs.

People confirmed that staffing arrangements met their needs. They confirmed that there had been issues at first, but these had now improved. They were generally happy with staff timekeeping and confirmed they always stayed the allotted time.

People’s medicines were managed so they received them safely. Infection control measures were in place. There were effective staff recruitment and selection processes in place. People received effective care and support from staff who were trained and competent.

People said staff were kind and caring. People commented, “The care is brilliant” and, “The staff are amazing, kind and compassionate.” Staff treated people with dignity and respect when helping them with daily living tasks.

People received personalised care and support specific to their needs and preferences. Their views and suggestions were taken into account to improve the service. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet.

Staff spoke positively about communication and how the registered manager worked well with them and encouraged their professional development.

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 9 August 2021 and this is their 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 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.

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 to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.