Background to this inspection
Updated
5 July 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
One inspector undertook this inspection.
Service and service type:
Unit 5 Red Lion is a domiciliary care agency that is registered to provide the regulated activity of personal care to younger and older adults who may have disabilities or dementia.
The provider organisation is owned by an individual who also manages the service and is registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. We visited the office location on the 26 April to see the registered manager and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed the care records for one person using the service, the employment folders for two care workers, one of whom was on induction. We looked at the training records for the staff and records relating to the management of the service.
Following the inspection, we spoke with the relative of one person receiving care and a care worker.
Updated
5 July 2019
About the service:
Unit 5 Red Lion is a domiciliary care agency providing care in people’s homes. This is the only location of the provider Holistic Care Solutions Limited. The owner of the organisation was the registered manager. At the time of our inspection one person was receiving the regulated service of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service:
A relative spoke very positively about the care their family member received from the service. They found the care staff friendly and caring. We found that the service was personalised to the individual and training for care staff was thorough.
However, we did find that whilst most staff recruitment practices were robust the provider had not undertaken sufficient action to record and investigate gaps in staff employment history. We made a recommendation that the registered manager follows best recruitment practice.
We also found that whilst the care plan we reviewed was person centred and reasonably detailed there were a couple of inconsistencies that gave staff incorrect information and could pose a risk to the person receiving inappropriate care.
Both relatives and staff felt well supported and the service provided was monitored by the registered manager to ensure quality care was provided.
Medicines were administered in a safe manner and the registered manager checked records monthly to ensure they were correctly completed.
The registered manager met with the person and their relatives prior to offering a service to understand what was required and how they would like care to be given. Also, to identify risks to the person and to agree measures for staff to take to mitigate those risks. Consent of the person was obtained prior to care being provided.
Care plans contained details of the person’s religious and cultural preferences and contained outcomes to support their future independence.
Rating at last inspection: This was the service first inspection since registering with the CQC on 21 March 2018.
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection in line with our scheduling guidelines.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor notifications and information we receive about this agency. We will inspect again in line with our inspection scheduling unless there is information that supports bringing an inspection forward.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk