Archived: CRG Homecare - Salford

CRG Homecare Salford is a domiciliary care service based in Salford and provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. The services are operated by Health Care Resourcing Group Limited.

The service had 300 clients, 208 of which receive 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

Infection prevention and control (IPC) policies and procedures were in place, though staff were not always following these processes.

Supervisions and appraisals were taking place, but these were not happening as often as their policy indicated. A small number of staff training courses were not up to date and required renewal.

We have made a recommendation about staff supervisions and appraisals.

Internal audits showed there had been no missed visits, however people we spoke with told us they did not always receive their care visits. Some records were not always adequately detailed to ensure people received appropriate care. A new quality assurance system had been implemented to monitor and audit accidents and incidents.

We have made a recommendation about the provider reviewing their audit system.

People received their medicines as prescribed. There were systems in place to ensure the safe management and supply of medicines were effective and did not place people at the risk of harm.

People told us they felt the service was safe and most staff gave us positive feedback about the manager. Staff were recruited safely, with appropriate checks carried out when their employment commenced.

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. Decision specific mental capacity assessments were being completed where necessary.

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 (8 November 2019) and there were two breaches of regulations. 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 comprehensive inspection of this service on 25, 26 and 30 September 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve good governance and staffing.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan 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.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has remained the same. 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 CRG Homecare - Salford 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 a new breach in relation to safe IPC processes 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 to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

CRG Homecare Salford is a domiciliary care service based in Salford and provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. The services are operated by Health Care Resourcing Group Limited.

People’s experience of using this service:

At this inspection we identified two breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 regarding Good Governance and Staffing.

Staff did not always receive supervision and appraisal to support them in their roles. Some staff training courses had expired and were due for renewal. Spot checks and competency assessments of staff were not always carried out in a timely way.

Although people told us they were happy with the service they received, we were told communication could be better. This was because people were not always informed by staff if they were going to be late for their care visit. Travel time was not always taken into account on staff rotas which could result in staff being late to deliver people’s care.

People told us they received their medicines safely, although the record keeping of when medicines were administered needed to be improved. Accidents and incidents were documented, although some of the incident forms lacked details about actions that had been taken.

Quality assurance systems needed to be improved to ensure effective oversight was maintained regarding the concerns identified at the inspection.

People said they felt safe using the service, with staff demonstrating a good understanding about how to protect people from the risk of harm. Staff were recruited safely, with appropriate checks carried out when their employment commenced.

People received the support they needed to eat and drink. People said they felt treated with dignity and respect and staff promoted their independence as required.

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.

Decision specific mental capacity assessments were completed as necessary.

Complaints were handled appropriately and a range of compliments had also been made about the service provided.

Feedback about management and leadership was mixed.

The service had developed good links with the local community and worked in partnership with several organisations.

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 20 September 2018 and this was the first inspection we had undertaken.

Why we inspected:

This was a routine comprehensive inspection and in line with our timescales for newly registered services.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the service to ensure good quality care is provided to people. We will return to re-inspect in line with our inspection timescales for Requires Improvement rated services, however if any information of concern is received, we may inspect sooner.