Archived: Complete Aid Services Ltd

We previously carried out an announced inspection of this service on 20 and 21 June 2016. and the service was rated as overall requiring improvement. We found breaches in regulations relating to good governance and staffing and served warning notices to the provider in respect of these. Since the last inspection concerns have been raised about the level of clinical support and supervision provided to staff, and the ability of the service to deliver safe care to children with complex needs. As a result we undertook a focused inspection to look into those concerns. This report only covers our findings in relation to those concerns. You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Complete Aid Services on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Complete Aid Services Ltd is a family run business that has been established as an independent domiciliary care service providing emotional and practical support to children who have life threatening or terminal illnesses within family homes in the Cheshire, Kirklees and the Preston area.

The service was providing the regulated activity 'personal care' to 9 people with a broad spectrum of needs during our inspection.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager at Complete Aid Services Ltd. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We could not improve the rating for safe from requires improvement because to do so requires consistent good practice over time. We will check this during our next planned comprehensive inspection

The agency was previously inspected in January 2014 when it was found to be meeting all the regulatory requirements which were inspected at that time.

Complete Aid Services Ltd is a family run business that has been established as an independent domiciliary care service providing emotional and practical support to children who have life threatening or terminal illnesses within family homes in the Cheshire, Kirklees and the Preston area.

The service was providing the regulated activity ‘personal care’ to 11 people with a broad spectrum of needs during our inspection.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager at Complete Aid Services Ltd. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The registered manager was present during the inspection and engaged positively in the inspection process, together with other members of the office management team.

During this inspection we found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We will report on any further action we have taken regarding these when it has been completed.

Contingency plans to ensure service provision were not effective. For example, we found the service struggled to fulfil a care package when service experienced shortages of staff.

There was a lack of clear leadership at the service. Staff had worked hard to minimise the impact of this on people and their care, however; there was tension between support staff and the management team regarding communication of rotas, staff changes and how best to support children and young adults receiving the service. Overall support staff morale was low.

Not all staff had received regular competency spot checks and supervisions. There was open communication within the staff team; however staff had not attended regular staff meetings to keep them up to date with any changes.

Staff had received training and an induction before they provided care, but we found a small number of staff had not received training in important areas such as; moving and handling, paediatric first aid and food hygiene.

The majority of families told us that the service they received was generally reliable and that staff were friendly and polite. However, we found one family did not feel the service was reliable and made a formal complaint at the time of our inspection.

Care plans were in place detailing how children and young adults wished to be supported. We saw that families were involved in making decisions about care and the support needed. Risk assessments were in place which set out how to support people.

The provider had an effective recruitment process in place. There was a policy and procedure in place for the administration of medicines.

Parents said they knew how to make a complaint. However, we noted complaints were not always handled appropriately.

The service had children safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures in place. Staff were aware of their responsibilities in these areas.

Although incidents of abuse had been referred to the local authority’s safeguarding team, the provider had failed to notify CQC via the statutory notification process. We have written to the provider regarding their failure to notify the CQC.

A parent of one of the young people who used the service told us that they were more than satisfied with the quality of care provided. They told us that staff were enthusiastic and committed to the provision of a package of care tailored to meet their child's individual needs. Overall they said the service is 'excellent we could not ask for more.'

We looked at the care records for all of the children and young people who used the service and could see that arrangements made for their care and support were centred on their individual needs. We could see that children and young people who used the service received safe and appropriate care.

The service had a quality assurance system which was based on seeking and acting on the views of the people who used the service. We saw a quality assurance survey form which had been returned by the parents of one of the children who used the service. This indicated that they were satisfied with the staff and the quality of care provided.