Background to this inspection
Updated
8 March 2024
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
This inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and 2 Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
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. They had recently left, and a new manager has been recruited and intends to submit an application to register.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was unannounced.
Inspection activity started on 30 January 2024 and ended on 8 February 2024. We visited the location’s office on 30 January and 1 February 2024.
What we did before the 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. 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 this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 5 members of office staff, including 3 office coordinators and 2 area managers. We reviewed a range of records, including 4 people's care records and 9 medicines records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality assurance were reviewed. Two Experts by Experience spoke with 21 people and 9 relatives by telephone. We also spoke with 16 members of care staff by telephone.
Updated
8 March 2024
About the service
Premier Care Limited - Trafford & Manchester Homecare Branch is a domiciliary care provider. It provides personal care to adults and older people in their own homes. 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. At the time of our inspection the service supported 143 people with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service had continued to improve since the last inspection. Medicine concerns identified at the last inspection had been resolved. The risks associated with people's medicines were now managed safely. Further improvement was still required to ensure visit schedules were not impacting negatively on people’s care.
The improvements implemented at the last inspection had been sustained. The staff culture was good and most staff we spoke to felt supported. The provider was working closely with the Local Authority and there was a schedule of audits in place to help drive further improvement.
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.
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 25 October 2023) and there were breaches of regulations. At this inspection we found the provider remained in breach of regulations.
This service has been in Special Measures since 1 March 2023. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that enough improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 29 & 30 August 2023. 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 safe care and treatment and governance.
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 Safe 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 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 Premier Care Limited - Trafford & Manchester Homecare Branch on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Enforcement
We have identified a breach in relation to good governance 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 also meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the Local Authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.