Archived: Partners4Care Limited

Updated 11 September 2020

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 undertook this targeted inspection to check on specific concerns we had received about skilled staffing levels, medicines management, and service management.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one inspector 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

Partners4Care Limited 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 19 August 2020 and ended on 4 September 2020. We visited the office location on 26 August 2020.

Before the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including a director, the registered manager, acting registered manager, senior care workers, and care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at electronic staff training records, call monitoring logs, rotas and four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records and actions taken where concerns had been raised.

Updated 11 September 2020

About the service

Partners4Care Limited is a Domiciliary Care Service providing personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. Care Quality Commission (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 the inspection personal care was provided to 99 people.

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

People and their relatives spoke positively about the personal care they received. People told us they received their care and support from regular staff who understood their needs and supported their independence. Electronic call management ensured people received care calls on time and for the right duration.

There were enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s assessed needs. Staff training was managed electronically. Staff confirmed training was appropriate to carry out their roles safely and was up to date. Where assessed, people received support from skilled staff to take their medicines safely as prescribed.

Staff discussed how, and records confirmed they had received safeguarding training and were clear on how and when to raise their concerns. The provider had embedded systems and processes which were followed to investigate any concerns. Where appropriate, actions were implemented to keep people safe.

The provider had implemented a range of checks to maintain and improve standards of service. Where areas of improvement were identified, action plans were in place and reviewed for their effectiveness. The registered manager discussed how the service would benefit from further evaluation of performance as it continues to evolve. This included evaluation and feedback on actions taken from feedback, and evaluation of information to identify trends which would be used to focus on key areas of improvement.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 25/06/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We undertook this targeted inspection to check on specific concerns we had received about skilled staffing levels, medicines management, and service management. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

CQC have introduced targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check specific 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. We will assess all of the key questions at the next comprehensive inspection of the service.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the Safe, Effective, and Well- led sections 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.