Date of assessment 20 May to 2 June 2025. Brighter Homecare is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone using the service received a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of this assessment, 110 people were receiving personal care from the service. We carried out an onsite and offsite responsive assessment of the service due to emerging risk and the age of our last assessment. We found 4 breaches of the legal regulations in relation to submitting statutory notifications, safe care and treatment, staffing and the governance of the service. Effective quality assurance systems had not been fully implemented to assist the registered manager in identifying shortfalls in the quality and safety of the service. The provider had not ensured CQC had been notified of registration changes, and incidents that had affected people who use the service. People’s care and medicine records did not accurately reflect the support they required, and the care provided. Staff had not received support and refresher training in key subjects required for their role. However, most people were pleased with the care they received from the service. The service had been responsive to people’s concerns and took action to improve their personal wellbeing. Staff said they felt supported and trained and could approach the managers with any concerns. The registered manager was responsive to our feedback and was keen to make improvements to the service. In instances where CQC have decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
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Brighter Home Care, a small domiciliary care service in Cheltenham, received an overall Good rating at its first CQC inspection in February 2021, with staff praised for their caring approach, consistent support and good communication with people and relatives. The Well-Led domain was rated Requires Improvement due to underdeveloped quality assurance systems, gaps in recruitment record-keeping, and insufficient evidence of lawful mental capacity consent processes.
Concerns (5)
moderateGovernance: “further development of their quality assurance processes would assist the registered manager in monitoring the service and ensure the regulatory requirements were being met”
moderateConsent / capacity: “improvements were needed to evidence how the registered manager had obtained lawful consent using the principles of the MCA when people did not have the mental capacity”
minorRecord keeping: “discrepancies and gaps in staff's employment were investigated and discussed as part of the recruitment process but not always recorded”
minorMedication management: “staff would benefit from some clarity about the definitions of the different levels of support in managing people's medicines and how this is recorded”
minorEnd-of-life care: “the registered manager recognised that end of life care was an area that required further development to enable staff to support people effectively during their final stages of life”
Strengths
· People and relatives felt safe and praised the caring, polite and respectful nature of staff
· Consistent staff team ensured people received care from staff familiar with their needs
· Staff were trained in safeguarding, infection control and medicine administration
· Thorough induction programme supported new staff development including shadowing experienced staff
· Staff encouraged people to retain independence and make decisions about their care
Quality-Statement breakdown (22)
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management; Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
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
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceRequires improvement
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
responsive: End of life care and supportRequires improvement
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsRequires improvement
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 candour; Continuous learning and improving careGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood