Choices Homecare (Rotherham North & Doncaster)

TLC Homecare Doncaster is a domiciliary care agency providing support for people in their own homes. The service was supporting around 300 people at the time of the inspection.

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

Everyone we spoke with was very positive about the care and support they received. They said they felt safe with the care staff who were kind and caring and always asked what people would like them to do at each visit.

Support visits were not missed, and staff stayed the full length of the call unless people told them they didn’t need to stay. Some people told us that on occasion calls might not be at the pre-arranged time, but said this was mostly when regular care staff were on holiday and changes to rotas had been made to accommodate this.

One person told us: “The carers are great, they arrive on time and have never missed a call.” “I am very satisfied with the support I get from the girls.” A person’s relative said: “They are all lovely and very caring with [my relative].” They told us they believed the staff must be very well trained because they know exactly what to do. They said they wouldn’t want to change anything and would recommend this service to others.

The registered manager and care staff were approachable, and people felt able to raise any concerns directly with them. Staff said they felt well supported and received the training they needed for their role. Staff were safely recruited.

Care plans and risk assessments were in place to identify the support people wanted. People and relatives were involved in agreeing and reviewing their care plans.

Staff received an in depth induction and regular, ongoing training to enable them to undertake their roles. Staff told us they found the training to be useful and informative.

People were 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.

The registered manager and wider management team had oversight of the service through regular contact with people, their families and staff to gain feedback on the service. Care plans were reviewed regularly to ensure they met people’s needs, and spot checks were formally recorded with staff. Daily records were reviewed by the management team.

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 26 October 2018) and there were multiple breaches 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

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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

This was TLC Doncaster first inspection since registering at the location with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in March 2018. TLC is a domiciliary care provider based in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. TLC provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people using the service. The service offered includes personal care such as assistance with bathing, dressing, eating and medicines.

At the time of our inspection the service did not have a registered manager. The previous registered manager had left and needed to apply to be removed as registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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. The new manager has begun the registration process with CQC.

The provider had a procedure in place to ensure any safeguarding concerns were addressed and reported. People we spoke with felt safe using the service.

The service had a recruitment system in place which was used effectively when they employed new staff. This process included obtaining pre-employment checks prior to people commencing employment.

There were systems in place to ensure that risks to people's safety and wellbeing were identified, monitored and reduced.

People received a personalised service that was based on their personal needs and wishes. Care plans were detailed and personalised. Care workers felt they had enough information to meet people's needs, and get to know them. Changes in people's needs were identified and their care packages were amended to meet their changing needs.

People spoke highly of the quality of care provided by the care workers. Some people expressed concerns about their care not being provided on time.

Care workers were trained and competency assessed to administer medicines to people. People told us they were receiving their medicines when they needed them. However, we found medicines records were not fully completed to show that people had received their medicines on time. More information was required to instruct staff how to administer ‘as and when required’ medicines to people.

Records showed complaints had been managed appropriately; we saw the provider had oversight of complaints made and they were responded to within policy timescales.

People who used the service felt they were treated with dignity and respect.

Care workers said they felt supported by the training they received and they were well supported by the office team.

The provider had launched a set of vision and values for the service developed by consultation with people using the service and staff.

The providers had a quality assurance process in place but it had failed to pick up and respond to some of the issues we found on inspection. This process needed to be developed to cover all the areas needed to be checked.