32 Petre House

Person Centred Care Company is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to adults with a range of support needs. There were 9 people using the service at the time of this inspection.

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

Significant improvements had been made since our last inspection. However, there were still not enough effective quality assurance processes in place to evidence appropriate checks had been made and any issues addressed.

Safe recruitment procedures made sure staff were of suitable character and background. There were enough staff deployed to meet people’s care and support needs in a timely way. There were systems in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff told us they were provided with an induction and relevant training to make sure they had the right skills and knowledge for their role. Staff said they enjoyed working for Person Centred Care Company and they felt supported in their jobs. Care records provided enough information to enable staff to meet people’s needs and preferences, and to manage risks. Staff competency was checked by the registered manager.

People told us staff were caring and respectful in their interactions with them. From our conversations it was clear staff knew people well. 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.

People were encouraged to maintain good health and have access to health and social care services. The registered manager liaised with other health and social care professionals to discuss any changes and updates to people's care and support needs.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 3 August 2021) and there were breaches of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found some improvements had been made, however the provider remained in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 16 July 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve the management of risk, medicines management, staff support, recruitment practices and the governance of the service.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained as requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Person Centred Care Company on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to the governance of the service.

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.

Person Centred Care Company is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to adults with a range of support needs. There were five people using the service at the time of this inspection.

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

The provider had not implemented an effective governance system to ensure the service complied with expected standards. We identified widespread issues with the records kept by the service. This included people’s care records, staff records and records relating to the management of the service. The provider had not operated safe recruitment practices when employing new staff.

People’s relatives told us people felt safe when receiving care and staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect. However, systems were not in place to ensure risks were assessed and mitigated, to protect people from avoidable harm, and medicines were not managed safely.

The provider had not ensured staff received adequate support, for example through a formal supervision and appraisal process, to make sure staff were competent, knowledgeable and skilled. However, people’s relatives told us staff knew the people they were supporting well and delivered care in accordance with their preferences. People were supported by a small number of regular staff.

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.

People’s care records required significant improvement. They did not contain enough information about people’s preferences or enough guidance for staff to follow to ensure people’s needs were consistently met. Despite this, people’s relatives told us the service was tailored to their family member’s needs, and it was flexible and responsive.

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 CQC on 4 December 2019. This was the service’s first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Enforcement

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 discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We identified breaches in relation to risk management, medicines management, staff support, recruitment practices and the governance of the service.

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 to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.