Poseidon Care

Updated 7 March 2023

Inspection team

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 two inspectors.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.

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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service one week’s 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

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 reviewed information of concern we had received prior to completing our inspection.

We used information gathered as part of our monitoring activity that took place on 14 July 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

Inspection activity started on 26 October 2022 and ended on 6 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on 26 October 2022. We reviewed a range of records related to six people’s care and support. This included people’s care plans, risk assessments and six staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We reviewed records related to the management of the service, which included quality assurance records and a range of policies and procedures.

We spoke with most staff members. This included the registered manager, the nominated individual and a number of care workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with two people using the service and three relatives.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found after the inspection. We looked at further quality assurance records and medicines records.

Updated 7 March 2023

About the service

Poseidon Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides personal care to older people, some of whom have dementia. At the time of our inspection there were eleven people using the service.

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

The provider was not conducting appropriate checks before hiring staff to work. Staff were recruited in Nepal and then travelled to the UK in order to work for the provider. However, we found significant discrepancies in documentation that had been obtained but had not been identified and explored by the provider. Although the provider ensured staff had the training and skills to conduct their roles, care workers told us they did not feel supported. We have made a recommendation to the provider around staff support.

The provider did not promote a positive culture within the service. Care workers expressed concerns about their pay, hours and rotas that we have reported to another statutory body. Staff were not involved in the running of the service, although people were asked for their feedback.

The provider did not always effectively manage risks to people’s health and safety. We found examples where risks to people had not been fully explored. People’s needs and choices were assessed as part of the assessment process, but the provider was not fully considering risks to people’s care. The provider did not fully support people with their healthcare needs as we saw two examples where either people’s conditions were not recorded at all, or there was no clear record of how this affected people’s care needs.

The provider was not consistently safe in the management of people’s medicines. The provider conducted audits, but these did not identify the issues we found in relation to people’s risk assessments and their medicines care plans.

The provider took appropriate action to ensure people were safe from the risk of abuse and took appropriate measures to prevent and control infection. There was also an appropriate system in place to manage accidents and incidents.

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 told us they were well treated and supported and their care records included details of their backgrounds, life histories, ethnicity and religions. People told us they were involved in making decisions about their care and their privacy and dignity was respected and promoted. Care workers encouraged people to maintain their independence as far as possible. People’s care plans included some information about the level of support they needed from their care worker.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk .

Rating at last inspection:

We registered this service on 24 November 2021 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We were prompted to carry out this inspection due to concerns we received about staffing and recruitment. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

Enforcement and recommendations

We have found breaches in relation to appointing fit and proper persons, risk management and good governance.

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

We have made recommendations in relation to providing person- centred care and staff support. We will check if the provider has acted on any recommendations at our next comprehensive inspection.

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.