Buckingham Home Care Limited

Updated 20 January 2023

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.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people and their relatives. 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 and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was no registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 72 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The local authority did not fund any care with this provider therefore they were unable to provide any comments. The local authority safeguarding team had not received any referrals.

The provider did not complete the required Provider Information Return (PIR) we requested in 2021, due to resource issues. The PIR is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make.

We contacted staff by email but did not receive any replies.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people and 4 relatives. We spoke with the nominated individual and a staff co-ordinator. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We checked some of the required records. These included 4 people’s care plans, medicines records, 3 staff recruitment files and staff training and development files. Other records included those which related to monitoring and auditing of the service, minutes of staff meetings and a sample of policies and procedures.

Updated 20 January 2023

About the service

Buckingham Home Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care in Buckingham and surrounding villages. At the time of our inspection there were 12 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.

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

People were not consistently supported by care workers who had been robustly recruited. We found some required employment checks had not been carried out before staff started at the service. This had the potential to place people at risk of harm.

Induction, support and oversight of training of care workers was not sufficient to meet their development needs and make sure people were cared for by workers with the skills and experience to meet their needs.

Some governance systems were in place to monitor the quality of people’s care but these were not robust enough to identify all areas where improvements were required at the service.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. At the time of the inspection, people supported by the service had mental capacity. We have made a recommendation regarding providing support to people who may not have mental capacity and acting in their best interests.

Care plans were written to record people’s needs. We have made recommendations about providing more details about the support and equipment people need, to ensure they receive consistency with their care.

Risk assessments were in place to reduce the likelihood of harm to people. We have made a recommendation where people receive anti-coagulant therapy, to make sure staff can support them safely and effectively.

Medicines records were not always fully completed by care workers. We have made a recommendation about this to ensure accurate records are maintained.

People received healthcare support when they needed it and were supported with eating and drinking where this was part of their care package.

We have made further recommendations about developing the duty of candour policy and updating the complaints and whistleblowing policies.

People told us they were happy with the service provided to them. Comments included “Always been on time and have never missed a visit,” “They are very kind and helpful” and “I cannot fault the care, the ladies who come are very kind and very good.” People felt the service met their needs.

People said they were treated with dignity and respect and their views were sought through use of surveys. Reponses to a recent survey were positive. People said they would contact the provider if they had any concerns. No one we spoke with had needed to make a complaint.

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

This service was registered with us on 28 August 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was completed to provide the first rating for the location.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Safe, Effective and Well-led relevant key question sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

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.