Woburn Care

Updated 4 May 2023

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by 1 inspector.

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 not a registered manager in post. However, the Nominated Individual had started the process to register.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 14 March 2023 and ended on 29 March 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We received feedback from 2 people who used the service and 5 relatives about their experience of the care and support provided. We received feedback from 4 care workers and had a video call with the provider on 29 March 2023. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including a care plan, risk assessments and staff training records.

Updated 4 May 2023

About the service

Woburn Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care)] for people living in their own homes in the community. At the time of our inspection there were 15 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

The provider’s registered manager left the service in December 2022 and the provider had struggled to find a suitably skilled and experienced person for this role. Some basic quality assurance checks and quality monitoring had not taken place since December 2022. The care worker supervisions and training had also not taken place. During the course of this inspection the provider recruited a new manager and initial plans had been developed to address the shortfalls mentioned in this report.

People said they felt safe when supported by Woburn Care. People were protected from avoidable harm because care workers knew how to identify and report any concerns relating to the risk of abuse. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were assessed and measures developed to remove or reduce the risks. People were supported by care workers who had been safely recruited.

People’s medicines were managed safely. Care workers received appropriate training and had their competency checked to help ensure they were sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to safely administer medicines. Care workers had received training in infection control practices and personal protective equipment was provided for them.

Care workers knew people well and were able to promptly identify when people’s needs changed, and they sought professional advice appropriately. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care workers supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and relatives praised the kind and caring nature of the care workers. People received consistent care from a small team of staff. People knew about their care plans and could decide what care and 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

The last rating for this service was good (Published 02 February 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to the overall management of the service and the approach of some staff members. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, caring and well-led only.

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 changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, and well-led sections of this full report.

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to the overall management of the service at this inspection.

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.