VIP Homecare

Updated 28 September 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.

This was a focused inspection to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the Warning Notice in relation to Regulation 12, 13 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We inspected the key questions of safe and well-led only.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

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 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 3 August 2023 and ended on 10 August 2023. We visited the location’s office on 3 August 2023.

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 and professionals who work with the service. 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 3 people who used the service and 2 relatives of their experiences of the care provided. We spoke with 7 members of staff including the registered manager, the administration manager, the general manager, and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records, this included 2 people's care records and multiple medicines records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 28 September 2023

About the service

VIP Homecare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 18 people were receiving personal care. 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

At our last inspection we found risk assessments were not in place for people’s identified risks and auditing systems did not ensure improvements were identified and actioned. At this inspection we found improvements had been made, however, we found risk assessments were still not in place for all identified risks. The provider had started to update their auditing systems; however, they were still not robust enough to ensure shortfalls were identified to make improvements.

At our last inspection we found the provider had failed to ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. The provider had made improvements to their systems in place and people were now protected from the risk of abuse.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. People were supported by enough staff who were safely recruited to work in the service. People’s medicines were safely managed. The provider had effective systems in place to help protect people from the risk of infection. Staff informed us of the process they would follow if any incidents occurred.

The provider promoted a positive culture and staff showed an approach which helped achieve good outcomes for people. The registered manager understood their responsibility under the duty of candour and promoted an open and honest approach when something went wrong. People, their relatives and staff were involved in the running of the service. Staff confirmed they worked together as a team and with other professionals to support people.

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 27 September 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. At this inspection we found the warning notice had only been partially met and there were still breaches of regulation.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. We undertook this focused inspection 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 remained requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for VIP Homecare on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

Following the inspection we had a meeting with the provider to discuss the concerns and action they will take. 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.