Archived: Premier Care Blackpool Branch

Updated 20 April 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

One inspector and 1 Expert by Experience completed the inspection. 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 not a registered manager in post. The current manager was in the process of registering with us.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection 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 22 February 2023 and ended on 02 March 2023. We visited the location’s office on 22 February 2023.

What we did before inspection

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 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 6 people who used the service and 7 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the registered manager, regional manager, quality manager, senior carer, care co-ordinator and 5 carers. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and four staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 20 April 2023

About the service

Premier Care Blackpool Branch provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes within the Blackpool area. In addition to providing a domiciliary care service, the registered provider also manages one supported living home for people with mental health needs.

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. At the time of our inspection there were 85 people using the service.

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

The lack of suitable staff meant support could not consistently be provided for some social activities. We have made a recommendation about this. Some historic incidents had not been reviewed as part of Premier Care Blackpool’s governance system. We have made a recommendation about this.

People were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. Clear policies and procedures were in place, staff had received training and felt confident to raise any concerns they had. Staff were recruited safely. The manager took a systematic approach to ensuring there were enough staff deployed in specific geographical areas to meet people’s needs. We were assured that the provider was using PPE effectively and safely.

Management and staff displayed a clear vision and consistent values in the provision of care and support which was as individual as the person receiving it. The provider worked in partnership with health professionals in managing risk and supporting people with their underlying health conditions. People and staff spoke positively about the management team, who worked alongside staff and had oversight of the service delivered.

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.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

At our last inspection we recommended that the registered provider continued to embed suitable auditing systems to consistently promote safe and high-quality care. At this inspection we found the provider had made improvements to their auditing systems.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 30 November 2020. A breach of legal requirements was found.

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 and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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 requires improvement to good. 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 Premier Care Blackpool on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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