Liberty Private Care Ltd was rated Good overall at its October 2023 inspection, with people reporting they felt safe and well cared for by kind and skilled staff. However, recommendations were made regarding medication system robustness, safeguarding referral processes, Mental Capacity Act record-keeping, and mandatory learning disability and autism training compliance.
Concerns (7)
criticalConsent / capacity: “staff had hidden the house keys from 1 person in their best interest to prevent them from leaving their home, however, the service had not completed the required paperwork nor had requested an application to the Court of Protection.”
moderate
Medication management
: “the system showed 1 person had received a medicine twice in 1 day when this was prescribed to have once a day. This meant the person had been overdosed.”
moderateSafeguarding: “Safeguarding referrals had not always been made following incidents where people had placed themselves at risk of harm to ensure external scrutiny of the service.”
moderateConsent / capacity: “for the people who staff told us lacked capacity, records had not been completed to demonstrate their capacity had been assessed and the least restrictive decision had been made.”
moderateStaff training: “Staff had not completed training in learning disability and autism. This has been a requirement for all registered health and social care providers since 1 July 2022.”
minorMedication management: “checks to ensure staff were competent to administer medicines following the training had not always been completed.”
minorStaffing levels: “They are only given 10 minutes to drive, we pay them for an hour but the hour we pay them for is only 50 minutes”
Strengths
· People told us staff were kind and caring and they felt safe, with strong positive feedback from people and relatives.
· Risks to people's health, safety and wellbeing had been assessed and actions put in place to reduce harm.
· Robust recruitment systems including appropriate DBS and pre-employment checks.
· A lessons learned system was in place with root cause analysis and learning shared with all staff.
· Staff had adequate PPE supplies and infection control training was in place.
Quality-Statement breakdown (14)
safe: Using medicines safelyRequires improvement
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseRequires improvement
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management; Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceRequires improvement
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceRequires improvement
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely careGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles; Continuous learning and improving care; Engaging people and staffGood