Jays Homecare Limited

Updated 25 July 2020

The inspection

This was a focused inspection to check whether the provider had met legal requirements following the inspection in August 2019 where breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) 2014 Regulations were identified relating to Safe Care and Treatment, Staffing, Fit and Proper Persons Employed and Good Governance. Two key questions were inspected; ‘Is the Service Safe?’ and ‘Is the Service Well-Led?’

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we wanted to review documentation remotely and also make arrangements to speak with people and staff prior to our site visit. This helped minimise the time we spent in face to face contact with the management team.

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 authorities with whom the service works. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the operations director, registered manager, care co-ordinator, senior care worker and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. We reviewed the majority of the documentation remotely by asking the provider to send us key information prior to meeting with them. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff records in relation to recruitment and training. 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. We looked at quality assurance records.

Updated 25 July 2020

About the service

Jays Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own home. 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. The provider told us at the time of the inspection 23 people, aged 65 and over, received personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and relatives provided positive feedback about the service and said that it met their individual needs. They said they felt safe and secure around staff and were treated well. People said the service was timely and reliable.

Significant improvements had been made following the previous inspection in August 2019. Safe recruitment practices were now followed to help ensure staff were of suitable character to work with vulnerable people. There were enough staff deployed to ensure people received a reliable and safe service. Staff training, support and competency checks had been revamped and were now appropriate mechanisms for ensuring staff had the skills, knowledge and competence to care for people safely.

Improvements had been made to medicine management practices with clear records now in place demonstrating people received their medicines as prescribed. Risks to people’s heath and safety were assessed and well managed. People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.

People and staff praised how the service was run and said communication with and from the management team was good. People and staff were regularly asked for their views on how the service operated. Improvements had been made to governance systems with an enhanced range of audits and checks undertaken and better oversight of performance and quality.

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 inadequate (published 18 November 2020) . 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.

This service has been in Special Measures since 18 November 2019. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service in August 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve care quality relating to Safe Care and Treatment, Staffing, Fit and Proper Persons Employed and 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 ‘Is the service Safe?’ and ‘Is the Service Well-led?’ which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. 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 Jays Homecare on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.