Liberty Private Care Ltd

Updated 28 October 2023

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

The inspection team consisted of 2 inspections 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

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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 the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 28 September 2023 and ended on 9 October 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 28 September 2023 and visited people in their own homes with their consent on 29 September 2023.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we visited and met 3 people who use the service and 2 family members in their own homes. We spoke with 2 people and 4 family members on the telephone. We spoke with the registered manager, the director, and 2 members of staff, and received written feedback from 3 members of care staff.

We reviewed a range of records including 6 care plans and medicines records, 3 staff recruitment files, staff training records and other information about the management of the service. This included quality assurance records and audits, staff rotas, staff training records, medicines records and a selection of policies.

Updated 28 October 2023

About the service

Liberty Private Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people at home. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This means help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. There were 12 people using the service at the time of the inspection receiving a regulated activity of personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The computer system designed to manage the safe administration of medicine was not robust and did not always show medicines were being administered in accordance with the prescriber's instructions. We have made a recommendation to the provider about the safe management of medicines.

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 did not always support this practice. We have made a recommendation about keeping records in line with the mental capacity act.

We found the service had dealt with accidents and incidents effectively to ensure people remained safe from harm however, information had not always been shared appropriately with the local safeguarding team. We have made a recommendation about informing the local safeguarding team of incidents to ensure external scrutiny of the service.

Whilst the service did not currently support any autistic person or person with a learning disability, staff had not completed training in learning disability and autism. We have made a recommendation about providing this training in line with legal requirements.

Suitable numbers of staff supported people however, we were told staff were often late to calls because they did not have enough time to travel in between clients.

People told us the staff were kind and caring and they felt safe. One person said, “I do feel very safe with [staff] and look forward to their arrival.” Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing had been assessed to ensure people were safe. Staff had plentiful access to personal protective equipment (PPE), and systems were in place to protect people from the spread of infections.

People’s care needs were assessed before they started using the service to ensure their needs could be met. Staff had completed mandatory training and were able to access additional training to ensure the needs of the people using the service were met.

The service worked well with other organisations and healthcare professionals. We received positive feedback from people who felt the service had identified concerns and sought medical attention before they became a problem.

People felt the service was well run by the provider who knew people well. The provider was open and honest throughout the inspection and had a lesson learned process in place. The provider was keen to celebrate good care and learn lessons when areas of improvements were identified.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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 25 February 2020).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing levels, Mental Capacity Act, staff training and safeguarding. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe, effective and well-led sections of this full report.

Recommendations

We have made some recommendations please see our summary, safe and effective section of this report.

Follow up

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