Lead Care Services Limited, a small domiciliary care agency supporting four people at the time of inspection, was rated Good across all five key questions at its first CQC inspection in April 2018. The service demonstrated strong person-centred values, consistent staffing, and an open management culture, with minor areas for improvement identified around safeguarding awareness, medicines training, infection control compliance, and governance documentation.
Concerns (5)
moderateSafeguarding: “Staff told us that they would report any concerns to the registered manager however, did not have awareness of the local authority's responsibility as lead agency for safeguarding matters.”
minorStaff training: “We discussed with the registered manager that face to face training in this important area would be more effective, they undertook to explore this avenue with immediate effect.”
minorInfection control: “staff did not always use the plastic aprons provided when delivering personal care.”
minorRecord keeping: “gaps in people's employment history had not always been explained.”
minorGovernance: “it would be beneficial to maintain an overarching action plan to capture areas of the service identified for improvement.”
Strengths
· People consistently reported feeling safe and that staff were always on time, polite and respectful.
· Consistent staffing enabled strong relationships between staff and people who used the service.
· Registered manager demonstrated in-depth knowledge of staff and people, and was actively pursuing leadership qualifications.
· No missed care calls since the agency started; manager personally covered calls when staff were unavailable.
· Person-centred culture with care plans developed collaboratively and individualised to each person's needs and preferences.