Background to this inspection
Updated
3 August 2023
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
Two inspectors visited the service on the first day. One Expert by Experience made phone calls to people and their relatives to seek their views about the service. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. One inspector returned to the service on the second day to complete the inspection.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 07 June 2023 and ended on 15 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 09 and 12 June 2023.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must tell us about, such as any safeguarding alerts that had been raised. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We sought feedback from commissioners and the local authority safeguarding team. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 2 people who used the service and 5 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 6 members of care staff, 3 office-based staff, the registered manager, and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included 2038 calls for 28 people for the period 2023-05-06 to 2023-06-05 (31 days), 5 people’s care records, 9 staff recruitment records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including management of medicines, policies, and procedures.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at a range of records related to medicines management, staff training and quality assurance records were also reviewed.
Updated
3 August 2023
About the service
Impact Project Solutions Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection, 31 people were using the service.
People’s experience of using this service:
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it. At the time of the inspection, the location did not provide any specialist care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
Some people were not supported by effectively deployed staff. The electronic call monitoring system was not robust and failed to identify concerns regarding staff deployment, late calls, short calls, and one member of staff attending calls simultaneously at two different places.
People and their relatives gave us positive feedback about their safety and told us staff treated them well. People were protected from the risk of infection. Staff received support through training, supervision, and staff meetings to ensure they could meet people’s needs. Staff told us they felt supported and could approach the management team members at any time for support.
Staff asked for people’s consent, where they had the capacity to consent to their care. 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.
An assessment of people’s needs had been completed to ensure these could be met by staff. People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care and support. People were treated with dignity, and their privacy was respected, and supported to be as independent in their care as possible.
Staff showed an understanding of equality and diversity. Staff respected people’s choices and preferences. People knew how to make a complaint. The registered manager knew what to do if someone required end-of life care.
There was an effective management structure at the service and staff were aware of the roles of the management team. They told us the registered manager was supportive and approachable.
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 20 August 2021, and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Enforcement and Recommendations
We have identified breaches in relation to staffing 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.