Lotus Home Care Leeds

Updated 7 January 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was completed by two inspectors a specialist advisor and an Expert by Experience. 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, flats and specialist housing.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was to ensure the registered manager was available to support the inspection and to ensure we had prior information to promote safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The notice period also allowed the provider time to start asking people using the service and their relatives, if they would be prepared to speak with us about their experiences.

Inspection activity started on 9 December 2021 and ended on 22 December 2021 by which time we had sought the views of people, relatives and staff and reviewed all additional information sent following the visit. We conducted the office visit on 9 December 2021.

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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people and five relatives by telephone about their experience of the support provided. We spoke with four staff on the telephone. We spoke with the registered manager, deputy manager, senior regional manager and the quality and compliance officer in person at the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care and medicine records. We looked at six files in relation to recruitment and training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 7 January 2022

About the service

Lotus homecare is a domiciliary care service which supports people in their own home to live as independently as possible.

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. At the time of our inspection, the service supported 26 people with personal care.

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

The service provided safe care which met people’s needs. On the whole, people and relatives told us they felt comfortable in the presence of staff, who were competent, caring and compassionate. We spoke with the registered manager in relation to a concern that was brought to our attention. This was dealt with in line with their complaints policy. Staff had received training in safeguarding and knew how to report any concerns. Care visits were completed timely, with staff remaining for the allocated length of time. The service was proactive in letting people know if staff were running late due to traffic congestion. People received their medicines safely from staff who had been trained and assessed as competent.

People were involved in the assessment process prior to their care package commencing. This enabled them to discuss what support they wanted and ensure the service could meet their needs. 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.

Most people and relatives confirmed they received good care from staff who respected their privacy and dignity. People’s views were sought through reviews and surveys, to ensure the service was meeting their needs. Care files contained detailed information about each person and how they wished to be supported. We spoke with the registered manager about the importance of ensuring all care records contained appropriate up to date information.

We found a range of systems and processes were used to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service, areas of any concerns raised were investigated and followed up appropriately.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (report published 1 August 2019).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated good and outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

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.