Background to this inspection
Updated
25 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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector. An Expert by Experience made calls to people and their 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.
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 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.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and sought feedback from the local authority. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with eight people who used the service and six relatives or friends about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eleven members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, service manager, office manager and carers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. 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. We looked at training data, care plans and medication records.
Updated
25 February 2022
About the service
Veraty Care Solutions is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 51 people were receiving the regulated activity of 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
People's medicines records had unexplained gaps in recording and there was limited monitoring or audits of systems to manage people's medicines. This meant people could be at risk of not receiving their medicines as prescribed.
Limited quality monitoring systems were in place, and those that were being used were not fully embedded. This meant the provider had limited oversight of the service which placed people at risk of harm of receiving inconsistent care.
People told us they felt safe when staff supported them, and staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report any issues.
People were supported by trained staff who had been recruited safely. People were supported in line with government guidance around COVID-19.
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 8 April 2019)
Why we inspected
We undertook this targeted inspection to follow up on specific concerns which we had received about the service. The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about lack of notifications. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.
We inspected and found there was a concern with people’s safety around medicines, so we widened the scope of the inspection to become a focused inspection which included the key questions of safe and well-led.
Enforcement
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 breaches in relation to 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 for 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 return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.