Pride Home Care

Pride Home Care is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to adults and older people. At the

time of the inspection the service was providing care to 116 people.

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.

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

Medicines were not well managed to keep people safe. Auditing of medicines had taken place but failed to identify a number of concerns we identified, putting people at risk of harm. The registered manager took immediate action to strengthen this area and protect people.

As an outcome of our inspection, we have made a recommendation about the administration of medicines.

Feedback from people and their relatives was mixed. Some told us that timing of care calls varied and they were not sure who would be supporting them or when. Other people stated how good the staff were and supported them well.

The registered manager understood their responsibilities under safeguarding and ensured that any complaints of safeguarding concerns were investigated to enable improvements to the service provided to people.

Staff received training to enable them to support people safely. This included people’s specific health care needs such as for those people living with Dementia. People told us they felt staff were trained appropriately.

People and their families told us the registered manager was approachable and that if they had any concerns or comments they would feel comfortable contacting them and feel they would be listened too.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 01 November 2021) with a breach of regulation 17 (good governance). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection, whilst we found improvements had been made the provider remained in breach of regulation 17.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service published on 01 November 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Pride Home Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service and will take further action if needed.

We have identified a breach in relation to oversight of medicine administration at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Pride Home Care is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to adults and older people. At the time of the inspection the service was provided to 69 people.

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.

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

The management team completed quality assurance audits. However, they had failed to identify shortfalls in relations to medicines, staff COVID-19 testing, and the system for reviewing accidents and incident. The registered manager took immediate action has confirmed all the actions were completed and suitable arrangements were in place to reduce the risk of harm occurring.

Where the provider had identified shortfalls, they took action to bring about improvement. For example, the provider had recruited additional staff and reducing the amount of care provided. This improved care call visit timing and ensured people could receive their full call times.

The management team sought people’s views about the service and acted on their suggestions. People, relatives, and staff made positive comments about the service they received. They said the management team were approachable and responsive.

People told us they felt safe with the staff who provided their care. Staff, including the registered manager, understood their responsibilities under safeguarding. They knew how to report and escalate any concerns. Staff were confident the management team would take any concerns they raised seriously.

People and relatives told us they were happy with the care they received. They described staff as, "Nice," "Lovely," “Kind,” and, "Helpful." People’s risk assessments and care plans provided guidance for staff about people’s needs and preferences. They were reviewed regularly and when required. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink and to manage and maintain their healthcare needs. People were treated with respect and their independence was promoted.

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 felt involved in decisions about their care.

Staff received training which included key topics such as infection control and health and safety. Staff also had the opportunity to complete training specific to people’s needs, for example, Parkinson’s Disease and stroke awareness. Staff understood their roles and felt very well supported by the management team.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection (and update)

This service was registered with us on 20 August 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about late and missed care call visits, staff training, medicines management and provider’s response to concerns raised. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.

The registered manager responded immediately during and after the inspection and told us he had taken action to address these issues. They confirmed all the actions were now completed and suitable arrangements were in place to reduce the risk of harm occurring.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to monitor the service to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We have identified a breach in relation to governance at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan for the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.