Archived: De Vere Care - Brent

Updated 15 July 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection took place on 6 June 2017 and it was announced. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We gave the provider notice of our inspection as we needed to make sure that someone was at the office in order for us to carry out the inspection. One inspector carried out this inspection. At the time of this inspection the service had 17 people who used their service.

Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. In addition, we reviewed information we held about the service. This included any notifications and reports provided by the service to us and the local authority safeguarding team.

We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives of people who used the service. We also spoke with the new manager, contracts manager and four care workers. We obtained feedback from one social care professional.

We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and how the service was managed. These included the care records for the five people who used the service, four staff recruitment records, staff training and induction records. We checked the policies and procedures and the insurance certificate of the service.

Updated 15 July 2017

We undertook this announced inspection on 6 June 2017. De Vere Care - Brent was newly registered in October 2016 to provide Personal Care services to people in their own homes. The services they provide include personal care, housework and assistance with medicines. At the time of inspection the service provided care for 17 people.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People and their relatives informed us that they were satisfied with the care and services provided. They informed us that people had been treated with respect and they were safe when cared for by the service. There was a safeguarding adult’s policy. Care workers knew what action to take if they were aware that people who used the service were being abused.

Risk assessments had been carried out and these contained guidance for care workers for minimising potential risks to people. There was no record of accidents. The new manager stated that there had been no accidents involving people who used the service. Where an accident was preventable, guidance to care workers on prevention had been provided. The service had a policy and procedure for the administration of medicines. We were informed by the new manager that their care workers currently did not administer medicines to any of the people who used the service.

Care workers were caring in their approach and knowledgeable regarding the individual choices and preferences of people. Care workers prepared appropriate and up to date care plans which involved people and their representatives.

We were not confident that all care workers had been carefully recruited as some of their records did not contained all the required recruitment records. Two staff records contained only one reference and no explanations were given as to why additional references were not obtained. This means that people were at risk of being cared for by care workers who may not be suitable.

The service had an induction programme followed by on-going training in essential areas. We however, noted that the records of one care workers did not contain evidence of induction and the records of two care worker did not contain evidence of supervision sessions. This means that not all care workers had received the necessary support to assist them in their roles.

There were arrangements for encouraging people and their representatives to express their views and make suggestions regarding the care provided and the management of the service. Reviews of care had been carried out to ensure that people received appropriate care.

The service had a complaints procedure and people and their representatives knew who to contact if they had concerns. One complaint recorded had been promptly responded to.

The service did not have a comprehensive system of checks to ensure people received the care they needed. We were not provided with evidence of regular spot checks on care workers. In addition there was no evidence of regular monitoring of visits with follow up action for late visits to people. Audits of the service had only been started recently and we note that this had identified deficiencies that needed to be rectified.

We found three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what actions we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report