Community Care Direct, Southport, Merseyside continues to be in special measures to protect people using this service, after the Care Quality Commission (CQC) again rated it as Inadequate following an inspection in May this year.
The agency provides care to people who have complex care needs such as palliative/end of life care, spinal injury and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. At the time of our inspection there were 35 people using the service and 44 staff employed.
This inspection in May was scheduled to check on progress made with concerns identified at the time of a previous inspection, in November last year.
Debbie Westhead, Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care in the North, said:
“People are entitled to services which provide safe, effective, compassionate and well-led high quality care.
“We found the care provided by Community Care Direct fell short of the standards we expect services to provide.
“Although there were some improvements to the care people received, we were deeply concerned that a number of requirements for improvement had not been acted upon.
“We remained particularly concerned that the service delivered was the one that suited Community Care Direct, rather than the people using the service. Along these lines, some staff also told us they were concerned about the care they were giving in relation to the timing and duration of the calls they were asked to make.
“We are now taking further action to protect people and we are working closely with Sefton Council to ensure that people are safe and get the services they need.”
During this latest inspection CQC found the provider had not taken the necessary action and therefore continued to be in breach of the regulations.
CQC found despite some improvements being made since the last inspection, such as an improved recording of messages in the communication book, inspectors remained concerned that the service delivery was to suit the service and not the people receiving the service. Inspectors were also concerned that the registered manager had failed to demonstrate that they had actively listened to people and done everything possible to improve the care for people. People were still at risk of harm.
CQC found a system where the registered manager was visiting people to review their care but no evidence of a system to transfer that information in the care plans to ensure the information in the care plans was up to date. Care plans were also not being reviewed when changes occurred. Therefore, inspectors could not be sure the information was up to date. Although new processes had been implemented, the information was not always being recorded appropriately.
There had been an improvement to staff rotas as staff were now receiving them a week in advance. However there was still not enough staff to ensure people were safe and their needs were met in a timely way.
Following our inspection in November 2015 we restricted Community Care Direct from accepting any new service users. This restriction remains in place.
Any regulatory decision that CQC takes is open to challenge by a registered provider through a variety of internal and external appeal processes.
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For further information please contact CQC Regional Communications Officer Kerri James by email kerri.james@cqc.org.uk or by phone on 07464 92 9966.
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