The Care Quality Commission
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Premier Care Blackburn Branch

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Unit 12 Dalton Court, Blackburn Interchange, Commercial Road, Darwen, BB3 0DG (01254) 476174

Provided and run by:
Premier Care Limited

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of assessment: 12 October 2024 to 17 October 2024. We undertook the assessment in response to concerns about how the service dealt with safeguarding issues, and managing people's health needs. The service was performing well following the introduction of a new management structure. We found that processes around safeguarding people and learning from incidents had improved and staff were more confident about reporting concerns. Following the last inspection, improvements had been made in the management of medicines, recruitment and the quality of people's care plans and risks assessments; the service was no longer in breach of the legal regulations. There were enough staff to meet people's needs, however at times staff struggled to reach service users on time due to issues such as traffic and staff sickness. Care plans were person centred and contained a good amount of detail so that staff knew people's needs and preferences. This was an improvement following the last inspection and the service was no longer in breach of the legal regulation. Staff had completed a number of relevant training courses recently which they commented had improved their knowledge and skills. Staff enjoyed their jobs and were committed to meeting people's needs effectively. The manager listened to staff and people well, and there were processes to ask people for their feedback. The service had access to a specialist health team at provider level that could support and guide staff to help manage people's complex health needs. There were robust governance procedures in place, and managers were aware of risk. Staff felt confident about raising issues and felt they would be listened to. Improvements had been made following the last inspection around following policies, and managers were better at monitoring performance and outcomes; the service was no longer in breach of the legal regulation. The manager conducted audits and took action to make improvements when required.

31 January 2023

During a routine inspection

About the service

Premier Care Blackburn Branch is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 187 people using this service.

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

Medicines were not always managed safely. Audits were carried out but did not pick up on errors found during the inspection. Risks were not being managed safely. Risk assessments relating to people’s specific health conditions were not always in place. Accidents and incident records were completed and identified trends and themes. IPC practices where in place and supplies of PPE were available. Recruitment processes were not always being followed. We were told there was enough staff to safely meet people’s needs however, visits were not always lasting the full length of the duration set out in people’s care plans. A safeguarding policy was in place and staff were aware of the safeguarding procedures.

Care plans and risk assessments were not always in place for people that use the service. Staff received training and regular competency checks. Staff worked alongside other agencies to promote good outcomes and the registered manager had systems in place to make referrals to other healthcare professionals.

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.

Staff spoke positively about the people they support and the work they do. People and their relatives also spoke highly of the service. Staff were described as responsive, experienced and polite. Staff had training in privacy and dignity. Spot checks were carried out by senior management to ensure staff were providing person centred care.

Care plans were not always person centred and held conflicting information about people’s care needs. Concerns were raised about visit lengths by relatives of people that use the service. End of life care was being considered and recorded where appropriate.

Governance systems were not always effective. There was limited evidence of the provider’s oversite of the service and the systems in place. Feedback forms from people evidenced on-going issues that were found during the inspection. Relatives and staff spoke highly of the registered manager.

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 March 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

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

The registered manager and provider have been responsive to the feedback provided during the inspection and have implemented changes to improve the quality and safety of the service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to assessing and managing risk , the management and administration of medicines and governance .

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