Immediate Medical Solutions Ltd

Updated 28 February 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.

Service and service type

Immediate Medical Solutions Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service is also registered for 'Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely’ to people in the community.

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. The registered manager was also the chief executive and provider of the service.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 18 January 2023 and ended on 20 January 2023. We visited the office location on 18 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we already held about the service. This included feedback from people and notifications. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and other members of the management team. These included the medical director, who was responsible for the transport service, and the operations manager. We also spoke with a member of care staff and a relative of a person receiving care from the service, by telephone. We were not able to speak with the person because they were not available.

We reviewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We reviewed people's care plans, which included risk assessments. We looked at other documents such as medicine procedures, infection control, recruitment and staff training records. We inspected the vehicle intended to provide a medical transport service and looked at vehicle documents and maintenance records.

Updated 28 February 2023

About the service

Immediate Medical Solutions Ltd is a domiciliary care agency located in the London Borough of Redbridge. It is registered to provide 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. At the time of the inspection, only a limited personal care service was being provided.

The service was also registered to provide 'Transport services, triage and medical advice remotely' to people in the community. Transport services can include, for example, a private ambulance service.

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

Relatives felt the personal care service was safe for their family members. Safeguarding procedures were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Risks around people’s health, mobility and environment were assessed to help staff keep them safe.

There were enough staff to provide support to people. Staff were recruited appropriately and had received training to ensure they were suitable to support people. Relatives told us staff were punctual and completed their tasks. Staff told us they were supported by the registered manager to perform in their roles.

There was a procedure for reporting incidents and accidents and to review and learn lessons from them to prevent re-occurrence. Staff followed infection control procedures to protect themselves and people from infections. People did not require support to take their medicines but medicine procedures were available for when people needed this support.

Assessments of people’s needs were carried out before they started using the service. People gave their consent to the care and support being provided. 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. Details of health professionals involved in people’s care were included in care plans. People’s food and drink preferences were understood by staff.

Relatives told us staff were respectful and caring towards their family members. People’s privacy, dignity, human rights and equality and diversity characteristics were respected. People and relatives were able to express their views about the care. Staff supported people to maintain their independence.

Care plans recorded people’s needs and preferences and people received a personalised. Staff communicated well with people and relatives. There was a procedure for complaints to be investigated and responded to.

There was a positive culture in the service. Relatives and staff told us the service was well managed. Feedback from people and relatives was received by the registered manager. There were quality assurance systems in place for the provider to continuously improve the service, however they had yet to be fully utilised because there was only limited service being provided. The registered manager worked in partnership with other organisations and providers to keep people in good health.

We were not assured the provider had the necessary systems to provide the transport service because the ambulance vehicle was not suitable and had not been adequately maintained. However, the provider was not providing this service at the time of our inspection and had not done so since first registering the service with the CQC. Therefore, this part of the service was briefly inspected but not rated. Shortly after our inspection, the provider informed us they intended to remove this regulated activity from their registration.

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 11 February 2020 to carry out the regulated activities of 'Personal care' and ‘Transport services, triage and medical advice provided remotely’. This is the first inspection of both these regulated activities.

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

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