Regional Care Peterborough

Updated 3 March 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 inspection manager, one inspector and one Expert by Experience carried out this 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 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. A new manager had also been employed to take over the role of the registered manager from the provider. We will refer to them as the manager in this report.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

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 all this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service and the family members of 8 people who used the service. We spoke with the provider who is also the registered manager, the newly appointed manager, office manager, several office staff and 4 care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. We looked at 3 people's care plans, various medicine administration records. We looked at 6 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were also reviewed, including training records, complaints,

compliments, quality assurance processes and various policies and procedures.

Updated 3 March 2023

About the service

Regional Care Peterborough is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 80 older and younger adults at the time of the inspection.

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

The provider and manager had put new processes and procedures in place to make the necessary improvements in response to the previous inspection. This included regular audits and asking people about the service they were receiving on a regular basis. This piece ofwork was still in progress and not all of the improvements had been embedded and not all of the issues we identified during this inspection had been identified by the provider.

Although improvements had been made, risks to people were not always identified, managed or reviewed to ensure people were safe and protected from harm. Medication administration risk assessments were not in place for all people. Not all staff had completed the necessary medication administration training before carrying out competency assessments for other staff.

Feedback about the service people received was mixed. Some people told us that they or their family members were not always treated in a dignified manner. For example, some people told us that staff sometimes talked to each other in a different language that they did not understand when supporting the person with personal care.

The complaints log did not include information about all complaints and what action had been taken in response.

Care plans were being changed into a new more detailed and person-centred format so that staff had the information they needed. Staff felt supported and spoke highly about the provider and new manager. Staff felt that the training they were provided with ensured they had the skills and knowledge they needed to carry out their roles effectively.

People were mostly 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.

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 (report published October 2022). 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 the provider remained in breach of some regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 26 July 2022. 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

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Inadequate to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

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

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to providing safe care, treating people with dignity and respect, responding to complaints and identifying areas for improvement at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.