A comprehensive inspection took place on 26 and 29 June 2018 and was announced. At the last inspection in February 2016, we found a breach of regulation which was related to the management of complaints.The purpose of this inspection was to see if improvements had been made with the management of complaints and to review the quality of the service currently being provided for people. At this inspection we found the service had met the requirement notice regarding complaints. Although, we did find other concerns with the safe management if medicines and the recording of people’s finances.
Reed Specialist Recruitment, known to people, their relatives and staff as ‘Reed’, is a recruitment agency based in Leeds who also operate a personal care service. The service provides home care, where they provide care and support to people in their own homes; and a community service where staff members provide support and personal care to people with learning difficulties in the community. Services are also provided to children and families. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting 13 people with a regulated activity and over 40 people in total.
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults and children.
Not everyone using Reed Specialist Recruitment Limited – Leeds received a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.
At the time of the inspection the service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
Medicines management was not always safe; medication administration records were not always accurate and staff had not always been assessed as competent.
People, relatives and staff all told us the management of the service was very good. They said the registered manager and office staff were approachable and responsive. We found there were systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided, although, these had not identified the concerns found at this inspection.
There was a procedure in place which enabled people to raise any concerns or complaints. Complaints were investigated and responded to in a timely way.
When necessary, staff involved relevant healthcare professionals or the emergency services to make sure people's health care needs were met. People's individual dietary needs and preferences were planned for and met.
The service had effective systems to manage staff rotas, match staff skills with people’s needs and identify what capacity they had to take on new care packages. We found recruitment processes were robust. Staff had opportunities for on-going development and the registered manager ensured they received induction, supervision, annual appraisals and training. We noted some training had not been recorded to give a full overview of what staff had completed.
People and relatives we spoke with told us they were very happy with the service they received and staff were kind, caring and treated them with dignity and respect. We saw people had access to activities within the community. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People’s care and support plans contained information about what was important to the person. Staff were confident people received good care and said the care and support plans contained relevant information about the person. People and family members told us they felt safe with the care they received and we found there were procedures in place to report safeguarding incidents.
We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we have told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.