A PL+US Caring Service received an overall rating of Good across all five key questions at its October 2023 inspection, with people and professionals consistently praising the caring, skilled staff and responsive management. Minor improvements were recommended around record-keeping systems, formal supervision frequency, and the consistent capture of protected characteristics in assessments.
Concerns (5)
moderate
Record keeping
: “recording and information systems were not always organised in a way to ensure the effective oversight of the service.”
moderateGovernance: “The audits of medicine records, care plans, daily notes and staff training were a mixture of paper based and electronic. This made it difficult to have an overview of all aspects of the service.”
minorSupervision / appraisal: “formal recorded 1/1 supervision with staff was not always completed on a regular basis.”
minorPerson-centred care: “People's protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010, such as gender, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity were not always identified as part of a person's assessment.”
minorMedication management: “The MAR for the use of creams was not being used but information was recorded in the daily notes.”
Strengths
· People and family members were consistently positive about the kindness, reliability and skill of staff.
· Effective safeguarding systems in place with staff and management demonstrating clear knowledge of reporting responsibilities.
· Safe recruitment procedures followed including DBS checks.
· Medicines administered safely by trained staff with regular audits and unannounced competency spot checks.
· Good infection prevention and control practices observed and confirmed by people and families.