15 July 2022
During a routine inspection
YourLife (Sidcup) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to older people in their own homes within an assisted living development. 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. At the time of the inspection the service supported eight people with their personal care.
People's experience of using this service
Risks were not always assessed, identified or updated and risk management plans were not always in place to manage risks safely. The provider had failed to report potential safeguarding concerns to both safeguarding authorities and CQC.
People said they felt safe. Medicines were safely managed. People were protected against the risk of infection. Sufficient numbers of suitably skilled staff were deployed to meet people's needs. Accidents and incidents were recorded, and learning was disseminated to staff. Appropriate recruitment checks were carried out before staff joined the service. Staff were supported through regular training and supervisions. Assessments were carried out prior to people joining the service. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to support people appropriately. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People were supported to eat a well-balanced diet if required. People had access to healthcare professionals when required to maintain good health.
Staff maintained people’s privacy and dignity and their independence was promoted. People and their relatives where appropriate, had been consulted about their care and support needs. People’s end of life care wishes were recorded in their care files. There was an effective complaints system to manage people concerns in a timely manner. The provider worked in partnership with other healthcare agencies.
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires Improvement (published 10 December 2019) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Recommendations
We have made a recommendation that the provider seek, familiarise and implement national guidance in relation to reporting safeguarding concerns.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.