21 October 2022
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Premier Community is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. They support older adults with a range of physical and mental health needs. At the time of our inspection there were 393 people using the service.
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.
The service is split into 3 areas, each individually managed. The areas are Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire North West and Derbyshire North East.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Feedback we received for Derbyshire North West and Nottinghamshire raised several concerns. However, feedback about Derbyshire North East was more positive.
People did not always receive their calls at their preferred or even scheduled times. Calls were often condensed or cut due to staffing demands and people’s needs were not always all met as a result.
People did not always receive care in a person-centred way and care plans were not always being kept up to date to reflect people’s current needs and requirements.
People were supported to take their medicines although not always in a timely way and recording was not always in line with best practice.
We have made a recommendation around medicines management.
People experienced a lack of communication from management. Staff also felt they were not being supported. The provider did have systems and processes in place to monitor the quality and care delivery of the service, however these had not proved effective in improving the service. The provider was aware of some of the concerns and had taken measures to ensure people’s experiences improved.
People told us the carers were kind and treated them well. People felt safe whilst being supported by them and staff knew how to protect people from risks and abuse.
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 31 May 2019).
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to call timings, missed calls and a lack of response to raise concerns. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, responsive and well-led only.
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 good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the safe, responsive and well-led sections of this full report.
You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the end of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Premier Community on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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 staffing, delivering personalised care and governance. We also made a recommendation about medicines management and documentation.
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.