About the service Unique Personnel Newham Branch is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to older adults, people with a physical disability and mental health needs living in their own homes and flats. At the time of this inspection, 328 people were using the service.
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
Medicines support was not always clear within people’s care plan. The level of support people received in the community did not match what was written in the care plan.
People were protected from the risk of abuse and people told us they felt safe at the service.
People received care at a time convenient to them and people told us staff arrived on time. Staff were recruited to the service in a safe way.
Management at the service logged all accidents and incidents and took steps to prevent them from happening in the future. Staff followed appropriate infection control practices to minimise the spread of infection.
People received an assessment of need before care began but allergies were not always recorded in the initial assessment when the information had been provided.
People were supported to eat and drink and care plans encouraged people to maintain a healthy diet. Records confirmed consent was documented before a care package began and people told us staff asked for the permission before providing 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.
People liked the care workers they were provided with and told us they were kind and compassionate. People were treated with equality and people told us staff showed respect towards them. People were encouraged to maintain their independence but knew staff were available if they needed help with any aspect of care.
Care plans were personalised overall and people told us they were asked about what they wanted from their care. Complaints were recorded and the service took appropriate action to resolve them to people’s satisfaction. Issues were identified in relation to relatives being able to access the out of hours telephone number.
Quality checks had improved at the service to make sure people received care at the right time and that it met their needs. People told us feedback was requested by management of the service through telephone calls and spot checks.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection - The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 19 July 2018).
The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection enough improvement had not been sustained and the provider was still in breach of regulations.
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 19 July 2018). The service remains rated requires improvement. This service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Enforcement: We identified a breach in relation to the safe management of medicines. 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.