We carried out a review of the data available to us about Care 4 You Direct Limited on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Care 4 You Direct Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
Not everyone who used the service always 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
People were safe and protected from avoidable harm because management and care workers knew how to identify and report any concerns relating to the risk of abuse. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were assessed and measures developed to remove or reduce the risks. People were supported by care workers who had been safely recruited.
People’s medicines were managed safely. Care workers received appropriate training and had their competency assessed to help ensure they were sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to safely administer medicines. Care workers had received training in infection control practices and personal protective equipment was provided for them. The management team took appropriate action following any incidents and learning was shared with the team.
Before care delivery started assessments were completed to help make sure people’s needs could be met. Management and care workers knew people well. They were able to promptly identify when people’s needs changed, and sought professional advice appropriately. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care workers supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People and their relatives praised the kind and caring nature of care workers. People and their relatives were confident to raise any concerns with the management team. Everyone we spoke with during this inspection was satisfied with the care and support they received.
The management team was committed to providing a high standard of care to the people they supported as well as the care workers and understood their responsibilities under the Duty of Candour. People, their relatives and care workers spoke highly of the management team and told us they were always available and supportive.
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 and update
We inspected this service on 11 October 2021 in response to concerns raised with us. We found the concerns were substantiated and we identified a breach of regulations. The service registered with us on 16 June 2021, there was not enough evidence of sustained practice at the time of the inspection in October 2021, so we were unable to provide a rating at that time. The provider completed an action plan after the inspection to show what they would do, and by when, to improve.
At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection and to provide a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
Care 4 You Direct Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to 16 people at the time of the inspection. The provider also operates a care agency providing temporary staff for care homes.
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
People had raised concerns about late calls, consistency of care workers, poor organisation, staff not wearing uniforms or carrying ID, poor care plans and not knowing who to contact and who was in charge. We found the concerns raised were substantiated. The provider did not have any quality assurance systems in place so was not aware where improvements were needed.
The provider had recently recruited a person with the relevant skills and experience to oversee the service and introduce quality assurance systems, monitoring and engagement with people who use the service. The provider acknowledged the shortfalls in the management systems and took immediate action to address them.
Following our initial feedback, a senior staff member or member of the management team visited each person who used the service to review their care plans and ensure they were satisfied with the service provided. An electronic care management system had been introduced to ensure staff have up to date information about people’s care needs available to them at all times. It also gives the provider a ‘real time’ overview of the time and duration of care visits and medication administration. These systems were very new and therefore we cannot assess their effectiveness at this inspection.
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 16 June 2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
We undertook this targeted inspection to check on specific concerns we had about the overall management of the service and staffing. Following this targeted inspection, the service remains unrated.
CQC have introduced targeted inspections to follow up on Warning Notices or to check specific concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not give a rating or change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.
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.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.
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 and discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required 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 the lack of management oversight and quality assurance processes. 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.