Optimist Care Ltd

Optimist Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people who live in their own houses and flats. At the time of our inspection, 1 person used the service, this person received personal care.

Not everyone who uses domiciliary care services receives 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

Effective processes were not in place to ensure the safe recruitment of staff. We found gaps in staff recruitment folders. We were unable to assess if staff employed at Optimist Care had completed a robust induction as no records were available on staff files. We have made a recommendation about staff inductions.

Improvements were required in relation to some aspects of medicines management. Audits and quality assurance were in place but needed some improvement to ensure the service continually improved and provided positive outcomes for people. The provider had not considered any end of life care wishes the person may have.

The person and their relative spoke positively about the care provided. The service had a small staff team who worked closely together and knew the person well. Staff told us they had enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and had received training in how to use it.

The provider had arrangements in place for health professionals to work together to support the person's needs.

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 October 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not been rated.

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

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 have identified a breach in relation to recruitment practices and quality assurance.

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