My Homecare Redbridge

This service is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Redbridge. The service provides personal care to adults in their own homes, primarily elderly people. 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 provided personal care to 7 people.

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

At our previous inspection on 20 September 2022, quality assurance systems were not robust enough to identify shortfalls we found on risk assessments, care planning and ensuring staff attended calls on time, therefore placing people at risk of harm. We served a warning notice to ensure improvements were made on good governance.

At this inspection, improvements in these areas had been made and there were more effective quality assurance systems in place, which included auditing care plans and staff files.

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

Rating at last inspection

The previous rating for this service was requires improvement (published 8 November 2022) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. We issued a warning notice for a breach of Regulation 17 (Good Governance). There were also requirement notices issued for Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment), Regulation 18 (Staffing) and Regulation 9 (Person Centred Care) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection, enough improvement had been made and the service was compliant with the warning notice issued on Good Governance.

Why we inspected

We undertook this targeted inspection to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met. The overall rating for the service has not changed following this targeted inspection and remains Requires Improvement.

We use targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.

Follow up

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

My Homecare Redbridge is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Redbridge. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes. 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.

The service was supporting 11 people with personal care at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service

Risks assessments were not robust to ensure people received safe care. Systems were not in place to ensure staff attended calls on time.

Some care plans were not accurate and we found one person did not have a care plan to ensure they received safe person-centred care. Staff supervisions were not regular to ensure staff were being supported at all times. Robust assessments were not carried out on nutrition. We made a recommendation in this area.

Robust audit arrangements were not in place to ensure shortfalls could be identified and prompt action taken. Regulatory requirement were not being followed and CQC had not been notified where there had been allegations of abuse.

Staff were aware of how to safeguard people from abuse. Systems were in place to prevent and minimise the spread of infections when supporting people. Pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Medicines were being managed safely.

Staff had been trained to perform their roles effectively. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People received care from staff who were caring and had a good relationship with them. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were encouraged to be independent and to carry out tasks without support.

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

Rating at last inspection

The previous rating for this service was Good (published 20 January 2021).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for My Homecare Redbridge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing, person-centred care and good governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This service is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Redbridge. The service provides personal care to adults in their own homes. 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 provided personal care to 15 people.

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

At our last comprehensive inspection on 2 January 2020, we found a number of shortfalls. We found that risk assessments had not been completed for people to minimise the risks of avoidable harm. We also found care plans were not person centred and pre-assessments of people’s needs were not robust to determine if the service could support people effectively. Audit processes were not robust to identify shortfalls and to take prompt action to ensure people were safe at all times. During this inspection, we found improvements had been made.

Risk assessments had been carried out in most areas to ensure people received safe care. However, improvements were required to ensure risk assessments were in place for people at risk of falls. We made a recommendation in this area.

Regular supervisions had been carried out and staff were supported in their role.

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.

Pre-assessments systems were in place to determine if people could be supported effectively. Care plans were person centred and included how to provide personalised support to people. Quality assurance systems were in place to identify shortfalls and take prompt action to ensure people always received safe care.

Complaints had been managed in a timely manner. Systems were in place to obtain feedback from people and relatives.

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

Rating at last inspection

The previous rating for this service was requires improvement (published 5 February 2020) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. CQC had issued requirement notices for Regulation 9 (person centred care), Regulation 12 (safe care and treatment) and Regulation 17 (good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Why we inspected

We undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective, responsive and well-led to check if the service was compliant with the requirement notices issued at the last comprehensive inspection and if improvements had been made.

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

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for My Homecare Redbridge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

My Homecare Redbridge is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Redbridge. The service provides personal care to adults in their own homes. 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.

People’s experience of using this service

Robust risk assessments were not in place to ensure people received safe care at all times. Assessments had not been carried out prior to people receiving a service to determine if they could be supported effectively. Care plans were not person centred to ensure people received personalised care.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. We made a recommendation in this area.

Quality assurance systems were not in place to ensure shortfalls were identified and prompt action was taken to ensure people received high quality care at all times.

People and relatives told us staff were late for care visits. The service was aware of this through their quality monitoring process and was addressing this. We made a recommendation in this area.

People had mixed views about staff approach when delivering care. Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. Staff had developed positive relationships with the people they supported. They understood people’s needs, preferences, and what was important to them.

Staff had been trained to perform their roles effectively. Systems were in place for infection control and to learn lessons following incidents.

Systems were in place to obtain feedback from people and relatives.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 9 January 2019 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with the CQC.

Enforcement

We have identified breaches in relation to need for risk assessments, person centred care and good governance. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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.