The Care Quality Commission
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Prudent Domiciliary Care Limited (PBG)

Overall: Inadequate read more about inspection ratings

Stirling House, Culpeper Close, Medway City Estate, Rochester, ME2 4HN (01322) 686765

Provided and run by:
Prudent Domiciliary Care Limited

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of assessment 15 to 25 July 2024. We found breaches of the legal regulations in relation to staffing, safeguarding, safe care and treatment and good governance. People did not always receive care as planned. There were significant and multiple delays in care visits, visits shorter than planned and staff rosters were not always planned to provide staff with travel time and breaks when working long days. This negatively affected people’s experience of care and put them at risk of avoidable harm and their needs being neglected. People told us the lateness affected their day to day lives and sometimes meant staff did not have an opportunity to provide their care when it was most needed. The provider recently recognised issues with planning and delivery of the care visits but actions taken to address those shortfalls were not completed at the time of the assessment which meant people remained at risk. Staff did not always follow good infection prevention and control practice and provider’s processes for safe management of medicines which put people at risk of avoidable harm. The governance systems used in the service did not enable the provider to have a good oversight of the quality and safety of people’s care and to address the improvement needs effectively. In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/ or appeals have been concluded.This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we user our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.

15 February 2023

During a routine inspection

About the service

Prudent Domiciliary Care Limited (PBG) is a domiciliary service providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses or flats who required support due to needs relating to their age or living with physical disabilities. 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 there were 20 people using the service receiving support with personal care.

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

People were protected from the risk of abuse by staff who knew what to look out for and how to report concerns to their manager. Safeguarding alerts had been raised appropriately and relevant professionals consulted when required. Feedback on the staff was positive with people describing the carers as, "kind and caring," and "reliable and reassuring." Staff were on time and assisted people with the tasks they required.

Risks were assessed, and information provided to staff to mitigate these. Care plans held personal information on people and provided guidance for staff to be able to care for them well. People were supported to take their medicines on time and staff competency with this was assessed regularly.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to remain well and staff documented what people’s intake was so that it could be monitored and shared with professionals if required.

Staff completed a company induction and a range of training modules when starting with the service and people told us they felt staff knew what they were doing and supported them well. Staff were supported by the provider and members of office staff, and staff told us they were available for support.

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 and their relatives told us they were treated and were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff in the office contacted people weekly to seek feedback on what was working well and what could be improved.

Checks and audits of the service were appropriate for the level of support being provided and were completed to ensure people were receiving good care and support. The provider had developed appropriate policies and procedures which provided guidance to staff and people using the service.

Staff told us they felt valued and supported by the provider and staff were happy working for the service.

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 14 December 2022 and this is the first inspection.

The last rating for the service at the previous premises was requires improvement, published on 11 September 2021.

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

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