Auckland Care - Hampshire

Updated 3 May 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.

Inspection team

One inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out the inspection. 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 provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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

This inspection was unannounced.

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 met with 3 people supported by Auckland Care Limited and 1 person shared detailed feedback with us. We received feedback from 3 professionals and 17 staff members including, the registered manager, operational director, regional manager, 4 service managers, 2 deputy managers, 2 team leaders and 6 support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people's care records and a sample of medicines records. We looked at 10 staff files in relation to recruitment. We also looked at records that related to the management and quality assurance of the service. Following the site visits, we received feedback from 3 relatives.

Updated 3 May 2023

About the service

Auckland Care Limited is a domiciliary care provider. At the time of this inspection people received personal care support from Auckland Care Limited in a variety of supported living services spread across Hampshire. The service supported people with a variety of care needs, including autistic people and people with learning disabilities.

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. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people being supported with personal care by Auckland Care Limited.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Auckland Care Limited was not able to demonstrate how they were meeting some of the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right Support: The service was not maximising people’s choices, control or independence. People were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not always support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice. We could not be assured the service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We have made a recommendation about the management of assessments and best interest decisions.

Right Care: People were not supported to lead inclusive and empowered lives. People had care plans in place. However, these were not always written in a way that was person centred and easy to understand; we found a lack of detail to guide staff on how to support people safely and consistently. People were at increased risk of harm because staff did not always have the information, they needed to support people safely. Medicines were not managed safely. We have made a recommendation about the management of oral hygiene.

Right Culture: The service was not always well led. The quality assurance systems to assess and monitor the service were not always in place, and where they were, they were not effective. We found the provider did not have enough oversight of the service to ensure it was being managed safely and quality maintained. Quality assurance processes had not identified all of the concerns in the service. Records were not always complete, or person centred. This meant people did not always receive high quality care.

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 15 November 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about management oversight. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment and governance.

We have made recommendations about the management of oral hygiene and mental capacity assessments and best interest decisions.

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 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.