Archived: Clarriots Care (Leeds East & Kirklees)

Updated 21 October 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 19 August 2015 and was unannounced. The inspection team consisted of two adult social care inspectors.

Before the inspection we reviewed all the information we held about the service including notifications, and we spoke with the local authority safeguarding team. We had also received information of concern regarding the termination of the registered manager’s employment, people not receiving their care and support and/or not receiving their prescribed medicines. At the time of the inspection a Provider Information Return (PIR) was not available for this service. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During our visit we spent time looking at four people’s care and support records. We also looked at three records relating to staff recruitment and training, and documents relating to the service’s quality assurance. We also spoke with the registered provider, acting manager and a care co-ordinator. Following the inspection we spoke with two senior care staff on the telephone.

After the inspection an expert by experience spoke on the telephone with four people who used the service and seven relatives of people who used the service. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for a person who uses this type of care service. The experts by experience on this occasion had experience in providing care and support to older people.

Updated 21 October 2015

The inspection of Clarriots Care (Leeds East & Kirklees) took place on 19 August 2015 and was unannounced. Clarriots Care (Leeds East & Kirklees) was registered with the Care Quality

Commission in February 2015. This was the first inspection of the service since their registration.

Clarriots Care (Leeds East & Kirklees) is registered to provide personal care. Care and support is provided to people who live in their own homes within the locality of east Leeds. One the day of our inspection 24 people were receiving support with personal care and seven staff were employed by the service.

At the time of our inspection there was no registered manager in post. On the day of our inspection an acting manager was overseeing the management of the service but they were not yet registered with the Care Quality Commission. They had commenced employment as the assistant manager in July 2015. 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.

All but one of the people we spoke with told us they, or their relative felt safe with Clarriots Care (Leeds East & Kirklees) staff. Staff we spoke with were able to describe the possible signs of abuse and the action they would take in the event of a concern being raised.

People’s risk assessments lacked detail or adequate instruction for staff to provide safe care. This demonstrated a breach of Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

People told us staff were often late for their calls and there had been occasions when staff had failed to turn up at all. The acting manager said they begun to recruit more staff and had taken action to re-organise the allocation of calls for staff to improve efficiency. The registered provider was not able to evidence staff had received role appropriate training or induction when they commenced employment. These examples evidence a breach of Regulation 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The acting manager and care co-ordinator had knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act but none of the care and support plans we looked at referred to people’s capacity or their ability to make decisions. This demonstrated a breach of Regulation 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

One of the staff we spoke with was clear about how they encouraged and enabled the people they supported to access their GP when this was required.

People told us staff were kind. The acting manager told us about the action they had taken to begin to improve the work load for staff and ensure people received continuity of care.

The acting manager told us that staff recruitment files were incomplete and did not contain the documentation required to evidence safe and thorough recruitment of staff had been undertaken.

People’s care and support records were also incomplete and lacked sufficient and accurate detail to ensure people received safe and appropriate care and support. No formal assessing or monitoring of the service provided to people had been completed by either the previous manager or the registered provider. Feedback from people who used Clarriots Care (Leeds East & Kirklees) was that the service was not well led. These examples demonstrate a breach of Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

There was evidence complaints were not recorded and dealt with effectively. This demonstrated a breach of Regulation 16 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in 'special measures'.

The service will be kept under review and, if we have not taken immediate action to propose to cancel the provider’s registration of the service, will be inspected again within six months.

The expectation is that providers found to have been providing inadequate care should have made significant improvements within this timeframe.

If not enough improvement is made within this timeframe so that there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures to begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration within six months if they do not improve. This service will continue to be kept under review and, if needed, could be escalated to urgent enforcement action. Where necessary, another inspection will be conducted within a further six months, and if there is not enough improvement so there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall, we will take action to prevent the provider from operating this service. This will lead to cancelling their registration or to varying the terms of their registration.

For adult social care services the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it and it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.