React Homecare Ltd

Updated 11 October 2022

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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector and two Experts by Experience. The Experts by Experience contacted people who used the service and relatives via telephone following the inspection site visit. 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection

Inspection activity started on 30 August 2022 and ended on 13 September 2022. We visited the location’s office on 30 August 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed all the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and safeguarding team. 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

During the inspection, we spoke with the managing director, registered manager, care manager and two care staff. We spoke with 11 people using the service and ten relatives. We reviewed care and medicine records, audits, policies and recruitment information.

Updated 11 October 2022

About the service

React Homecare Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes in Scarborough, Pickering, Helmsley and surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection there were 78 people using the service.

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.

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.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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

People told us they were provided with safe care, but timekeeping and consistency was an issue. The provider was open and honest with regards to the current recruitment issues and problems this present with regards to consistency. They had clear plans in place to address this and continued to communicate with people about how this was progressing. We have made a recommendation about consistency and allocation of care calls.

People and relatives spoke highly of staff who supported them and their kind and caring approach. Safe recruitment processes were in place and followed. Staff were supported by the management team and an open, honest culture was adopted.

Improvements had been made to medicine management. Thorough guidance was now in place with regards to topical medicines, such as creams and where they should be applied. Staff responsible for administering medicines had received appropriate training and competency assessments.

Risks to people were identified and recorded. These were regularly reviewed to ensure they remained up to date and relevant. Any safeguarding concerns had been appropriately reported and staff worked with other professionals to ensure people received care and support to meet their needs and achieve good outcomes.

Effective systems were in place to monitor and improve the service. The provider visited the service on a regular basis to ensure they had appropriate oversight. People, relatives and staff were provided with the opportunity to feedback on the service provided. Action was taken to address any areas of concern.

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 22 June 2021) 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.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection of this service on 19 May 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve their governance processes.

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 Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.