Dependable Care LLP

Dependable Care LLP is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. At the time of our visit, the agency supported 27 people.

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

The provider and registered manager had made changes since the last inspection which will need to be sustained overtime. People’s experiences of care had not always been consistent, the registered manager had recognised this and had taken steps to improve this.

People’s risk had been identified and recorded, however, some people had different experiences of care staff at weekends. People felt safe and received their medicines as needed. The overall management of preventing infection control was effective.

People’s needs were known and recorded, by staff who had been recruited safely, trained and supported in their role

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 requires improvement (published 27 April 2019) and there was a breach of regulation. 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. The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

We have found evidence the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe and Well-Led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dependable Care LLP on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

About the service:

UK Central Group is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. On the day of inspection, the agency was providing care to six people. There was a registered manager in post. 'A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.'

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. People told that staff were kind and considerate. Relative spoken with told us that the staff were respectful. There were sufficient staff available to support people and calls were completed on time. People reported no missed calls so peoples care needs were met.

People had support with their medication when required from staff. We found that the medication administration records did not always reflect how staff supported people. Staff had completed training in the safe administration of medication and various other training. However updated training was not always completed in a timely manner to ensure staff skills were updated.

Risks associated with people care had been assessed to protect people from the risk of avoidable harm. Risk assessments were not always updated when people’s needs changed to ensure continuity of monitoring. Staff were aware of how to protect people from the risk of abuse and confirmed who they would report any concerns to, including external agencies if required. The registered manager ensured only suitable people worked at the agency. Recruitment checks were completed and included references and checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service. (DBS)

People confirmed the care they received met their individual preferences and choices. Care plans were reflective of people's current needs. There was a complaints procedure to enable people to make complaints and people spoken with were aware of these procedures. People told us they felt that the registered manager and staff would address any concern they had.

People and their relatives told us that staff were very kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect.

The registered manager was keen to improve the service for people. However, systems to monitor the quality of the service provided were not sufficient to ensure that people received a consistently good service.

This was a planned inspection.

Rating at last inspection: This was the service first inspection since registration on 10 October 2017

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection.

Enforcement Requirement Notice

The evidence above showed that the provider was in breach of Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

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

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk