6 January 2020
During a routine inspection
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Staff understood how to protect people from harm or discrimination and had access to safeguarding adults’ procedures. However, the provider had failed to notify the local authority of allegations of abuse. This meant the allegations had not been investigated in line with established procedures. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs and ensure their safety. The staff carried out risk assessments, however, the assessments did not always provide staff with information about how to manage specific risks. People were protected from the risks associated with the spread of infection. Staff were not supporting people with the administration of their medicines. The provider had a recruitment procedure, however, they had not recruited any new staff since the service had been registered.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People’s needs were assessed prior to them using the service. The provider had arrangements for the induction of new staff and provided regular training updates for existing staff. Staff felt well supported by the management team. People were supported to access healthcare services, as appropriate.
A person and their relative told us staff were kind and caring. People and where appropriate their relatives had been consulted about their care needs and had been involved in the local authority’s care planning process. Staff worked in respectful ways to maintain people's privacy and dignity. Staff were motivated and demonstrated a commitment to providing dignified and compassionate support. People were supported and encouraged to pursue activities of their choice. People and their relatives had access to a clear complaints’ procedure.
Whilst the provider had established quality assurance systems, they had failed to identify safeguarding adults’ procedures had not been followed appropriately. The management team were committed to the ongoing development of the agency and assured us the necessary improvements would be made to 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 09/01/2018 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the date the agency first registered with CQC.
Enforcement
We have identified one breach of the regulations in relation to the failure to report allegations of abuse to the local authority at this inspection.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.