Archived: Complex Care Professionals

Updated 8 July 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 2 inspectors and a nurse specialist advisor.

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 a registered manager in post, however they have been out of the business on maternity leave, the nominated individual had tried to gain alternative management support to cover this, but this had not been consistent. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 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 since it had been registered and asked the local authority for feedback. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. This 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

With their consent, we spoke with 1 person using the service and 2 relatives, we attempted to contact a number of people, but some did not reply, and others did not give consent for us to speak with them. We also spoke to 7 members of staff including the registered manager (who attended site for a short period on the day of inspection), care workers and the nominated individual. We looked at a range of records. This included 3 staff recruitment files, records relating to medicines, training and supervisions, safeguarding logs, care records and policies and procedures.

Updated 8 July 2023

About the service

Complex Care Professionals is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, there were 45 people using the service.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not provide care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.

Right support

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.

There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs and ensure their safety. Although staff were recruited safely, we made a recommendation about paperwork relating to recruitment. People were supported by staff who had been trained, but staff supervisions were not consistently taking place, we made a recommendation about this. People's needs were assessed prior to the receipt of service.

Right Care

People were positive about the care and support they received. People were treated with dignity and respect, and their independence was encouraged. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. People had care plans which considered their needs and preferences, though documentation in care plans could be improved.

Right Culture

The nominated individual promoted a person-centred culture which was focused on meeting people's individual needs. The registered manager was focused on providing a quality service to people and was committed to the continuous improvement of the service, though we found that governance processes and oversight needed to be improved. People were encouraged to provide feedback and staff worked in partnership with others including health and social care professionals to ensure people received the support they needed.

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 15 July 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified a breach in relation to poor governance. We have also made recommendations around recruitment practices and staff supervision.

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