Archived: Lotus Homecare Sheffield

Updated 26 August 2020

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. 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

Lotus Homecare Sheffield 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. 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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection to the main office was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to support us with our inspection.

Inspection activity started on the 6 February 2020 and ended on 20 February 2020. We visited the office location on the 20 February 2020.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the service, which included correspondence we had received and any notifications submitted to us by the service. Statutory notifications are information the registered provider is legally required to send us about significant events that happen within the service. 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.

We contacted social care commissioners who help arrange and monitor the care of people using the Lotus Homecare - Sheffield. We also contacted Healthwatch Sheffield. 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 all of this information to plan our inspection.

During this inspection

We spoke with 10 people who used the service and eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the regional manager, registered manager, deputy manager and a care coordinator and two care workers. We also contacted care staff by email to gather their views.

We looked at three people's care records. We checked a sample of medication administration records, care rotas and three staff files, which included recruitment checks, supervisions and appraisals. We also looked at other records relating to the management of the service, such as quality assurance documents.

After the inspection

We looked at people's care rotas, staff training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 26 August 2020

About the service:

Lotus Homecare Sheffield is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own home. It provides a service to adults with a range of health and social care needs. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care for approximately 69 people. 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

At our last inspection people raised concerns about the consistency of care staff supporting them. At this inspection people and relatives raised this concern with us again. People also told us they wanted their calls delivered on time and not to experience late calls. Some people were experiencing short calls and not receiving their planned care. People and relatives told us there were not enough staff to deliver calls on time. This showed the provider had not ensured there was enough staff deployed to ensure people received continuity of care.

People and relatives told us they had contacted the service to complain about their calls being late. However, these concerns about people’s late calls were not always being captured by the complaints process. This showed these informal concerns were not being monitored and used for learning and improvement. We shared this feedback with the regional manager.

The provider had not ensured there was proper and safe management of medicines. We found the systems in place to ensure people received their prescribed medicines at the right time required improvement. Safeguarding procedures were robust and staff understood how to safeguard people. The provider had completed pre-employment checks for new staff, to check they were suitable to work at the service.

People told us they had a written care plan in place. We received mixed views about the quality of care provided by care staff. People told us experiencing late calls and staff being rushed reduced the quality of care they received. People also worried they would not receive a call and did not always feel well supported. This was reflected in the feedback received from relatives.

At our last inspection we found the systems in place where the manager’s monitored and reviewed the quality of the service required improvement. At this inspection, the feedback from people and relatives showed this area still required improvement. The registered manager did not have a sufficient knowledge about quality performance and risks. For example, the real time monitoring of people's calls required improvement.

People and relatives made positive comments about the staff and told us they were caring. Relatives told us most of the care staff treated their family member with dignity and respect.

Staff received a range of training and support relevant to their role. Our findings during the inspection showed some staff required further medication training and their competency re-checked. Staff told us they felt fully supported and listened to.

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. Staff understood the importance of respecting people’s diverse needs and promoting independence.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 6 February 2019). The service remains rated requires improvement. The service has been rated requires improvement for the last two consecutive inspections.

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

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.