YoD Care Services (Oxfordshire)

YoD Care Services are a domiciliary care service providing personal care. The service provides support to older people in their own homes in Oxfordshire. At the time of our inspection there were 58 people using the service.

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

People were protected from abuse and harm. Staff demonstrated they knew how to report any concerns relating to people’s safety and the service had systems to report and investigate concerns. Risk assessments identified how potential risks should be managed to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing harm. Staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care in accordance with people's support plans. There were sufficient staff deployed to keep people safe and meet their needs. The service aimed to ensure only suitable staff were selected to work with vulnerable people, and checks were carried out to allow safe recruitment decisions to be made.

People received their medicine as prescribed, and we saw medicines were managed appropriately and records were accurate and up to date and monitored electronically. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible and acted in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.

People, relatives and staff spoke positively of the management; they found them approachable and supportive. Staff were given appropriate responsibility which was continuously monitored and checked by the registered manager. There were effective systems to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service. Policies were in place, relevant and up to date.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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

Rating at last inspection.

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (Published 10 May 2022).

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced inspection of this service on 7 April 2022. Breaches of legal requirements relating to good governance were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.

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 changed to Good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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

YoD care Services (Oxfordshire) is a domiciliary care agency providing care to people in their own homes in the Slough area. At the time of our inspection ten people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care from the service. Not everyone using the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care, which 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, their relatives provided mixed views of the management of the service. Some they found them approachable and supportive whilst others told us they had difficulties with communication and found the management of the service ineffective. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable and supportive. Staff were given appropriate responsibility which was continuously monitored and checked by the manager. There were systems to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service. However, these systems were not always effective and did not identify our concerns relating to risks, punctuality and policies. The Registered manager told us these systems and policies would be reviewed.

People were kept safe from abuse and harm, and staff knew how to report any suspicions concerning abuse. The service had systems to report and investigate concerns. Risk assessments identified how potential risks should be managed to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing harm. However, we found one person at risk of pressure damage without a risk assessment. The registered manager took action and created a risk assessment. Staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care in accordance with people's support plans. There were enough staff to keep people safe and meet their needs. Robust recruitment processes aimed to ensure only suitable staff were selected to work with people.

People told us staff were not always punctual, and some people had experienced a missed visit. A minority of people also said some staff did not always stay the full length of the visit. We informed the registered manager who said they would investigate and take action.

Each staff member had received induction and training to enable them to meet people's needs effectively. We saw that supervision/spot check meetings for staff were held regularly and staff felt supported by the management to perform their role. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible and acted in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.

People's care plans were person-centred and focused on what was important to people. Care plans were regularly reviewed, and people and their relatives were involved in the reviews. People felt they were treated with kindness and said their privacy and dignity were always 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

This service was registered with us on 3 September 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about rough handling, staff not staying for the full visit time, staff rushing people, staff not following the care plan, staff knowledge and training, pressure care and staff not completing care notes. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. This was a planned, comprehensive inspection of an unrated service.

We have identified breaches in relation to Regulation 17 (Good Governance) of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 at this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

Follow up

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