Archived: Peterborough Community Care Services DCA

Updated 13 August 2014

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and to pilot a new inspection process.

We conducted a survey of people that used the service in April 2014 and then visited the office on 1 May 2014. Our inspection was announced the day before our visit which meant the provider and staff at the office knew we were coming and were available to provide information. We spoke with 20 per cent of people that used the service. The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an Expert by Experience who had experience of using care services. The Expert by Experience spoke by telephone with people who used the service, but did not attend the office.

Before the inspection visit we reviewed all the information we held about the service. This included the results of questionnaires. This information helped us to decide which lines of enquiry to focus on during our inspection.

During the inspection we checked a sample of  people’s care records, staff records and records from 2013 and 2014 in relation to the outcomes of complaints. We interviewed some staff in the office, including the new manager and a quality manager to clarify how they ensured people received their planned care.

Following the visit to the office we contacted some staff and people who used the service by telephone to gather their views about the service.

Updated 13 August 2014

Peterborough Community Care Service is a domiciliary care agency that provides support and personal care to approximately 120 people living in their own homes in Peterborough, March, Ely, Spalding and surrounding areas.

19 of the 20 of the people and relatives that responded to our survey told us they were happy with the care and support they received from their particular care staff, but only half of them said they would recommend the service to others.  People said the service had not always been reliable, but they had seen some recent improvements.

There was no registered manager, but a new manager had been appointed and had started to make improvements to the service.

There was a history of complaints about the service and people did not feel they had received satisfactory responses to their complaints. Records showed that some investigations into complaints had not been completed by the manager or the provider.

Staff felt unsupported, as they had not had regular meetings, but they told us that they had got to know the people they supported and wanted to do the best for them. People were satisfied, overall, that their individual care staff responded to their needs. A typical comment from a person using the service was, “The carers are good. They do everything just as I need them to.”

We saw that the service had assessed people’s needs and agreed with them a care plan which set out when and how they were assisted by staff. We found the new manager was making sure these plans were reviewed and improvements were being made in the way care was coordinated so that everyone received their care at the time it was planned.

We have told the provider to make improvements to the service to ensure all Regulations of the Health and Social Care Act (2008) are being met. The regulations that were breached relate to managing people’s complaints and supporting workers.