Lotus Home Care Wakefield

Updated 6 July 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors and two Expert by Experiences. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 23 May 2022 and ended on 15 June 2022. We visited the location’s office on 23 May 2022. We spoke with people and their relatives on 25 May 2022. We spoke with staff on 25 and 30 May 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 11 people who used the service and nine relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with 12 members of staff including, the registered manager, the quality and compliance manager, the care manager and nine care assistants

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 6 July 2022

About the service

Lotus Home Care Wakefield is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 115 people, this included older people, people living with dementia and physical disabilities.

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

Risks to people’s safety were not always adequately assessed. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs safely, but not always to achieve consistency for people.

People and their relatives consistently told us they received safe care. Staff knew how to recognise and report abuse. Staff were trained to administer medicines safely and were assessed regularly to make sure they were competent. People were protected from the risk of infection and they told us staff wore PPE in their homes.

Staff received regular supervisions and ongoing training, to ensure they had the right knowledge to support people effectively. 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 spoke positively about the care they received from staff.

The provider regularly sought feedback from people and input from staff, which was analysed by the registered manager in order to continuously drive improvement. The provider had robust governance arrangements in place, to assess the quality of the service.

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 inadequate (published 29 September 2021). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 16 March 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found in respect of safe care and treatment, good governance and staffing. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

We undertook this focused inspection to check to check whether the Warning Notices we previously served in relation to Regulations 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations 17 and 18. However, the provider remained in breach of regulation 12.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from inadequate to requires improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Lotus Home Care Wakefield 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 and will take further action if needed.

We have identified a breach in relation to safe care and treatment at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.