Redyfne Recruitment and Staffing Limited

Updated 22 March 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This 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. The Expert by Experience supported the inspection by making telephone calls to people and relatives to gather feedback about the quality of care they received.

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.

What we did before the inspection

We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 1 October 2021 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. We also reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

As part of our monitoring activity prior to the inspection, we spoke with six people using the service and six relatives. We also spoke with the registered manager and the office manager. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the office manager, chief executive officer and supervisor. We reviewed infection control, staff rotas and looked at six staff files including recruitment, supervision and appraisal records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at six people’s care and support plans and risk assessments, three people’s medicines records, training records, quality assurance records, and other documentation involved in running the service. We spoke with five care staff, the registered manager, office manager and chief executive officer.

Updated 22 March 2022

About the service

Redyfne Recruitment and Staffing Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 51 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

People and relatives told us they felt staff had a kind and compassionate attitude. People felt treated with respect and were encouraged to be as independent as possible. Staff knew people well and were able to recognise any change in their needs.

We found concerns around medicines management. There was a lack of systems and processes to monitor and safely manage medicines. Despite our concerns, people and relatives told us they received their medicines safely and on time. People’s risks were not always assessed, and appropriate guidance was not always provided to staff to minimise people’s known risks. There was a lack of auditing systems to ensure oversight of the quality of care being provided and help service improvement.

We have made a recommendation around improving staff recruitment practices.

Staff had been trained in safeguarding and understood how to recognise abuse and who to report to if any concerns were found. People usually had the same care staff visiting them and were able to build a rapport with them. Staff had received training in infection control and had access to PPE. The service followed government guidelines around COVID-19 testing and staff were encouraged to be vaccinated.

Staff were well supported through regular training, supervision and appraisal. People received an assessment prior to the service starting care, this ensured the service was able to meet their needs. Where it was an identified need, people were supported to eat and drink, staff heated up meals or prepared simple meals and snacks. The service made referrals to healthcare professionals when necessary to support people’s wellbeing.

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.

People were supported to give their feedback on the service and felt the service were easy to communicate with and responsive. The service worked in partnership with other healthcare professionals and made appropriate and timely referrals. Staff felt supported and valued by the management team. There were regular staff meetings to share information and allow staff to voice their opinions.

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 good (published 21 March 2019).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We found three breaches of regulation in relation to medicines management, assessing risk and overall governance of the service.

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