Bloomsbury Home Care - Essex

Updated 26 February 2022

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 two inspectors and one Expert by Experience. 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 18 January 2022 and ended on 01 February 2022. We visited the location’s office on 25 January 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. 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 all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff, including care assistants, the registered manager, and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medicine records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 26 February 2022

About the service

Bloomsbury Home Care - Essex is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes and flats. The service provides support to people living in and around North Essex. At the time of our inspection there were 52 people using the service.

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

Staff had completed COVID-19 individual risk assessments to check for underlying health conditions or other characteristics that might place them at an increased risk of COVID-19, but these did not always give guidance on how the risk could be reduced. Medicines were managed safely, and staff had received appropriate training in this area. The provider had introduced a new medication competency assessment tool, however, staff required further training to use this tool appropriately. The provider had also introduced new oversight and quality check procedures, as these were new, there was little evidence that these processes were effective or embedded within the service.

We have made recommendations to the provider surrounding assessing risk to staff.

People told us they felt safe and well cared for. All staff were trained in safeguarding and there was a safeguarding policy to provide guidance. Staff wore personal protective equipment (PPE) in line with current government guidance and were regularly updated by the management team to any changes in guidance. There was a newly implemented policy for infection prevention and control, and a newly implemented policy specifically for COVID-19.

Peoples care plans and records included details of interests, personal histories, and what support needs they required. Risks to people had been reviewed and recorded and were specific to the person. The provider reviewed peoples’ call times and durations to ensure they were getting the most appropriate service.

Staff were recruited safely, and in line with best practice guidance. Staff received full training appropriate for their role, and regular supervisions with team leaders. Additional training was available to address specific areas of care, such as diabetes. The provider recently improved their analysis of themes and trends for accidents and incidents, allowing them to share information with all staff to improve the service.

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.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 20 July 2021) with a breach of regulation 17 (Good Governance). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 3 April 2019, and an announced focused inspection on 28 April 2021. A breach of legal requirements was 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 from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bloomsbury Home Care - Essex on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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