Archived: Suite 5, Lancashire Digital Technology Centre

Updated 5 May 2016

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 5 and 6 April 2016 and was announced. The registered manager was given 48 hours’ notice of our intention to visit; this was to ensure they would be available for the inspection. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service such as notifications, complaints and safeguarding information. We contacted the local authority contract monitoring team for information.

Before the inspection we asked the provider to send us a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks them to give some key information to us about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. The registered manager told us they had not received the request due to a change of contact information.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people who used the service. During the inspection we spoke with two people who used the service and with three family members. We talked with two care support workers, the registered manager and the office manager.

We looked at a sample of records including three people’s care plans and other associated documentation, two staff recruitment records and associated training and development documents, complaints and compliments records, medication records, policies and procedures and audits.

Updated 5 May 2016

We carried out an announced inspection of Suite 5, Lancashire Digital Technology Centre on the 5 and 6 April 2016.

Suite 5, Lancashire Digital Technology Centre provides personal care and support and domestic services to people living in their own homes in Burnley and the surrounding areas. The service is mainly provided to older people with needs relating to old age, including people living with dementia. The office is situated on a business estate on the outskirts of Burnley. At the time of the inspection the service was providing support to 10 people.

At the previous inspection on 6 December 2013 we found the service was meeting all the standards assessed.

The service was managed by a registered manager. 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.

During this inspection visit we found four breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, relating to ineffective quality assurance, management of people’s medicines, training and supervision and recruitment processes. You can see what action we told the registered provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

People felt the agency was well organised. However, during our inspection we found a number of areas in need of improvement. This meant the systems to assess and monitor the quality of the service, including obtaining feedback from people were not effective.

People and their relatives were happy with the service they received from Suite 5, Lancashire Digital Technology Centre. They told us they felt safe using the service. Staff were able to describe the action they would take if they witnessed or suspected any abusive or neglectful practice. However we found staff had not received any recent safeguarding vulnerable adults training or any training related to the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

We found the training and monitoring to ensure people received safe support with their medicines needed to be improved. Safe recruitment processes had not been followed which could place people at risk from unsuitable staff. Staff had not received ongoing development and supervision to ensure they had the skills and knowledge to safely support people.

People told us staff were respectful of their privacy and maintained their dignity. People told us the staff were kind and caring. People told us they received care and support from staff they were familiar with and who arrived on time, never missed a visit and stayed the agreed amount of time.

Care records were an accurate reflection of the person’s care and support needs and they were reviewed regularly to reflect changes to the person’s needs and circumstances. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s individual needs, backgrounds and personalities and were familiar with the content of people’s care plans. People had been involved with their care plans and the ongoing reviews.

Processes were in place to monitor and respond to people’s health care needs. Where appropriate people were supported with eating and drinking.

The complaints procedure provided information on the action to take if a person wished to raise any concerns. People told us they had no complaints but were aware of the complaints procedure and processes and were confident they would be listened to.