Timely Care Solution Ltd

Timely Care Solutions Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes or flats. The domiciliary care agency is registered to provide a service to people over and under the age of 65 years old, people living with dementia, people living with physical disabilities and people living with a learning disability or autism.

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 the inspection the service was supporting a total of five people, of which three people were being supported with the regulated activity of personal care.

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

People had risk assessments in place. However, these did not provide enough information to direct staff to support people safely. Information within people’s care plans was limited and did not include people’s likes, dislikes or preferences. In addition, the records did not provide clear detail, guidance or direction to staff to ensure the care and support was person centred.

Staff recruitment was not always safe. Gaps in employment history had not been explored by the provider.

The quality assurance process was not robust and did not drive improvements in the service. There was a lack of governance oversight and management within the service.

Relatives told us the staff team were caring, kind and consistent which made people feel safe.

Staff had completed an induction process and were confident in their role. The registered manager conducted checks of staff skill and knowledge and discussed the outcomes of these with staff during individual meetings.

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 supported this practice. Relatives told us the staff sought consent when providing care and respected people's decisions.

The provider had an infection control policy in place which had been updated to reflect government guidance. Staff had completed training in infection control and knew how to apply this in their role.

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 11 February 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as a newly registered service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

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 and will take further action if needed.

We have identified breaches in relation to the care planning and recording of person-centred care.

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

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.