About the service
CARESHAW LTD is a domiciliary care service which provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, there were twenty-five people receiving care and support. 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
We found evidence of ineffective systems and processes regarding how the provider delivered and monitored the quality and safety within the service. This meant there was limited oversight of the safety of the safety of people being supported.
Risk's to people's safety were not always identified, assessed and managed. The provider's failure put
people in the service at risk of harm. Medicines were not managed safely and in line with best practice guidance.
People were not always protected from avoidable harm or abuse. Not all staff received training relating to safeguarding and did not have good knowledge of this. People were being charged for more care hours than they received.
People were not protected from the risk of infection and some staff failed to follow the national guidance about wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). People did not have COVID-19 care plans in place or risk assessments for those at higher risk of adverse effects from the virus.
There were no processes in place to monitor care calls delivered for people which were often cut back in time. The culture of the service sometimes lacked professionalism. Staff and people spoke highly of the registered manager.
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.
People did not always have person centred care plans in place. There was a lack of evidence around people’s cultural needs.
The provider had a complaints policy in place but had received no formal complaints. Some staff received end of life care, however, there were a number of staff who had not. The service supported people who were reaching or at the end of their life.
The service worked with other agencies and communicated well with both people using the service and staff. The provider had carried out criminal record checks on all staff. Staff meetings were held to discuss areas of improvement.
Staff supported people to maintain independence. Peoples feedback was regularly sought. The service sent out a regular newsletter. People told us staff knew them well and were kind and caring.
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 27/03/2020 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
We carried out this inspection because the service had not been inspected previously.
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 discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.
We have identified breaches in relation to person centred care, safe care and treatment, safeguarding and governance.
Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.
Follow up
We will meet with the provider following this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
The overall rating for this service is ‘Inadequate’ and the service is therefore in ‘special measures’. This means we will keep the service under review and, if we do not propose to cancel the provider’s registration, we will re-inspect within 6 months to check for significant improvements.
If the provider has not made enough improvement within this timeframe. And there is still a rating of inadequate for any key question or overall rating, we will take action in line with our enforcement procedures. This will mean we will begin the process of preventing the provider from operating this service. This will usually lead to cancellation of their registration or to varying the conditions the registration.
For adult social care services, the maximum time for being in special measures will usually be no more than 12 months. If the service has demonstrated improvements when we inspect it. And it is no longer rated as inadequate for any of the five key questions it will no longer be in special measures.