Archived: Novus Care Limited - Godalming

Novus Care Limited – Godalming & Live in Care is a domiciliary and live in care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection, the service was providing support to 30 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

People had not been receiving a good standard of care, or at their preferred time. Support calls had often been carried out in half the time allocated. When complaints had been made, people hadn’t received a timely or adequate response.

Care plans did not include information to guide staff how to provide safe care and support. Risk assessments lacked detail about specific conditions, and guidance for staff on how to reduce risks were not included.

Management oversight had not been effective in identifying issues.. There were no recording process for complaints received and some accidents and incidents records were missing. The relevant authorities had not always been notified of reportable events.

People were not supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff did not support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice.

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 good (published 3 October 2019).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing levels and management oversight. As a result, we undertook some direct monitoring activity followed by a focussed inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. 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 has changed from good 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 Novus Care Godalming 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 have identified breaches in relation to safe care, staffing and 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 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.

People’s experience of using this service:

People received their care from familiar staff who knew their needs well. People told us staff were kind and caring and treated them with respect. Relatives said staff encouraged their family members to make choices about their care and respected their decisions.

Staff supported people to be independent where this was important to them. Staff supported some people to attend appointments and to maintain their involvement in their community. People were involved in developing their care plans to ensure the support they received reflected their preferences.

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 supported some people to remain active in their local community and to take part in activities they enjoyed.

People told us they felt safe when staff provided their care. They said staff followed any guidance in their care plans. Assessments had been carried out to identify any risks involved in people’s care and staff had responded well if accidents or incidents occurred. Staff were recruited safely and understood their roles in protecting people from abuse.

We have made a recommendation about the management of medicines.

Staff were observant of any changes in people’s health and highlighted these if necessary. The agency communicated effectively with healthcare professionals involved in people’s care and supported some people to attend medical appointments.

Staff had access to appropriate training for their roles and management support when they needed it. Staff received regular one-to-one supervision, which enabled them to discuss their performance and training needs. Team meetings took place regularly and staff told us they were encouraged to speak up about any concerns they had.

People and their relatives had opportunities to give feedback about the agency through surveys, quality checks and reviews. The management team monitored the quality of care provided to people through regular 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:

This service was registered with us on 18 September 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

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 we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.