IRC Care Services Limited was rated Requires Improvement overall following a September 2018 inspection, with three regulatory breaches identified covering safeguarding (Reg 13), staffing/training (Reg 18), and governance (Reg 17). While staff were caring and people felt safe, critical failures in quality assurance, staff supervision, training oversight, and safeguarding knowledge meant the service failed to meet required standards.
Concerns (7)
criticalSafeguarding: “One staff member repeatedly told us there was no abuse happening to people and the second staff member was unable to answer the question at all.”
criticalGovernance: “Quality audit systems were not embedded into practice in order to monitor the quality of the service people received.”
criticalStaff training: “Records showed that not all new staff had completed the training required and there was no evidence that staff competency had been assessed.”
criticalSupervision / appraisal: “Records showed that no staff had received supervision within the last year. There was no system in place to track supervision.”
moderateStaff competency: “Spot checks had last been completed with four staff in March 2018. Prior to this no staff had received a spot check since May 2017.”
moderateCare planning: “Whilst we found examples where care plans contained lots of detail on people's backgrounds and routines, others contained very limited information for staff.”
minorEnd-of-life care: “We also found a lack of detail regarding people's end of life care.”
Strengths
· People were supported by regular, consistent staff who knew them well and built trusting relationships.
· People's dignity, privacy and independence were respected by caring staff.
· Safe recruitment processes were followed including DBS checks and references.
· Medicines were managed safely with electronic MAR records reducing missing signatures.
· Accidents and incidents were monitored and action taken to minimise recurrence.
Quality-Statement breakdown (20)
safe: Safeguarding people from abuseRequires improvement
safe: Risk managementRequires improvement
safe: Staffing levels and safe recruitmentGood
safe: Medicines managementGood
safe: Infection controlGood
effective: Staff induction, training and supervisionRequires improvement
effective: Needs assessment and care planningGood
effective: Access to healthcare professionalsGood
effective: Mental Capacity Act complianceGood
caring: Kindness and compassion of staffGood
caring: Dignity and privacyGood
caring: Promoting independenceGood
caring: Cultural and religious needsGood
responsive: Person-centred care planningRequires improvement
responsive: End of life care planningRequires improvement
responsive: Complaints handlingGood
well-led: Quality assurance and governance systemsRequires improvement
well-led: Staff spot checks and oversightRequires improvement