Pentacare (Sevenoaks)

Updated 24 February 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience, who made calls to people and relatives. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 19 January 2023 and ended on 24 January 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 19 January2023.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 03 November 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people who used the service and 7 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We met with the registered manager and spoke with 3 care workers. We looked at written records, which included three people's care records and two staff files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

Updated 24 February 2023

About the service

Pentacare (Sevenoaks) is a domiciliary care agency and provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 21 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

Quality assurance systems were not robust enough to pick up areas found on inspection. Short falls were found in people’s care plans, where people had known risks, they were not identified and mitigated through risk assessments. Not all care plans were completed to include person centred information and people experiencing heightened emotions did not have positive behaviour support plans. Training and induction had fallen behind but the registered manager had identified areas of improvement needed.

Staff were recruited safely. The service had a recruitment and selection process that helped ensure only prospective staff with the required skills and good character were employed to support people.

People told us they felt safe. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew how to protect people from abuse. Policies were in place to ensure appropriate steps were taken.

People enjoyed visits from staff. Staff knew people well and encouraged independence. People told us staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect.

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.

Care plans that were complete were person- centred. They included people’s personal histories, things that were important to them and personal goals. People and their relatives were involved in the care planning process. Regular reviews were carried out to ensure that they were up to date. People were involved in care plan reviews and encouraged to feedback about the service through surveys.

The registered manager was responsive areas of concern we found. They took immediate steps to put things in place. Staff told us, the registered manager was very supportive and approachable. People and relatives considered the service well-led and organised.

The service had established and maintained positive working relationships with other agencies including district nurses and GP surgeries.

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 07 December 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.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report. Since the inspection the provider and management team have taken action to address the issues identified. The management team are currently working in partnership with the local authority, health partners and the CQC to improve the service.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to good 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.