The Diamond Care Partnership Ltd

Updated 2 July 2021

The inspection

This was a targeted inspection to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the Warning Notice in relation to Regulation 12 Safe care and treatment of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector, who visited the office on the 23 April 2021 and made phone call to people and staff on the 22 April, 26 April and 27 April 2021.

Service and service type

The Diamond care Partnership Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission; they are also the registered provider. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

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 registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager who is also the provider and four care workers.

We reviewed records in relation to infection and prevention control, this included training records, a risk assessment and contingency plans.

After the inspection

We asked the provider to take actions to address immediate concerns.

Updated 2 July 2021

About the service

The Diamond care Partnership Ltd is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection four people were receiving personal care support.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

At the last inspection we found the provider’s systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service was not consistently effective. This was a breach of Regulation 17 HSCA RA Regulations 2014, Good Governance. At this inspection we found the required improvements had not been made and the service remained in breach of regulations.

This inspection found appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was made available by the provider, however, we found systems and processes had failed to ensure effective infection control measures were in place to keep people safe. Actions taken to implement Government Guidance COVID-19: how to work safely in domiciliary care; were not effective.

This inspection found that some people's care plans and risks assessments had not been reviewed and updated since November 2018. Therefore, we could not be assured that these records reflected people’s current support needs.

At the last inspection we found improvement was required where people were supported with ‘when required’ medication. At this inspection although we requested information on medication records for ‘when required’ medication this was not submitted, therefore we could not be reassured the required improvements had been made. People told us they received support to take their medicines.

The provider had not completed any quality monitoring records such as medication audits or spot checks for approximately 12 months. Therefore, we could not be assured that systems were in place to identify issues and ensure that action was taken in a timely way.

People were supported by staff who were aware of how to safeguard people from abuse and had good knowledge on how to recognise and respond to concerns.

People and relatives said staff were caring and they praised the service provided. Staff told us they could talk to the registered manager for advice and support and felt confident any concerns they raised would be acted on.

This is the fifth consecutive inspection that The Diamond Care Partnership Ltd has failed to reach an inspection rating of good; of the five inspections this is the fourth occasion when a breach of Regulation 17 has been found.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 08 August 2018) and there was a breach of regulations. 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 made, and the provider was still in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted due to concerns about poor infection prevention and control (IPC) and lack of effective record keeping. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. We only looked at safe and well led during this inspection. We did not look at the key questions of responsive, effective and caring. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service remains as Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvement. Please see the safe and well led sections of this report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Diamond care Partnership Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.

We have identified breaches in relation to Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment and Regulation 17: Good governance at this inspection. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good.

We will work alongside the provider to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.