LA's Community Care Ltd

Updated 8 July 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 carried out this inspection. An Expert by Experience supported the inspection making telephone calls to people and their relatives. 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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 6 June 2023 and ended on 15 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 6 June 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 five people and one relative to gather their feedback on care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff. This included the nominated individual, the registered manager and care workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed three people’s care plans and multiple medicines records. We reviewed 3 staff files and a variety of records in relation to the governance of the service.

After the visit to the office, we used technology such as and electronic file sharing to enable us to review further documentation.

Updated 8 July 2023

About the service

LA’s Community Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing person care. The service provides support to adults, older people and people who may be living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 13 people using the service who received a regulated activity. 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

Systems and process to monitor the quality of the service needed improvement. The auditing systems had not identified the areas we found at this inspection.

Risk assessments were not always in place or were not sufficiently robust. When people’s needs had changed care plans and risk assessments had not been reviewed in a prompt manner. Medicines were administered but records were not always sufficiently robust. We have made a recommendation about this.

People felt safe with the staff who supported them and there was systems in place to monitor attendance at care calls.

New staff received an induction and felt supported in their roles. Where people required support with their nutrition this was provided, and care plans contained people’s food preferences. 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.

Staff were kind and caring. They treated people with respect and protected their privacy and dignity.

People were happy with the care and support they received and felt fully involved and promoted to make choices.

People and staff felt involved in the service. There was good staff morale and they felt well supported. The provider held events to engage with the local community and to support registered charities.

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 15 March 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to risk management and governance at this inspection.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

We have made recommendations in relation to medicines records.

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.