About the service:

Redspot Care Limited provide personal care to people living in their own houses, flats and specialist housing. This is a domiciliary care service and primarily provides a service to older people, older people living with dementia or who may have a physical disability. At the time of inspection there were 46 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People’s comments about staffing levels were variable. Staff did not always have the time to give people the care and support they needed.

People and relatives told us call visits were for the convenience of staff, with people’s call time preferences often ignored. People received inconsistent call visits from staff, some being too early or too late. People were often not informed about staff changes and who may be visiting or caring for them.

Recruitment checks for staff were not robust to ensure the right staff are recruited to support people to stay safe.

People were at risk because they did not always receive their medication or medicines as prescribed. Robust arrangements were not in place to effectively monitor the service’s responsibilities and role in relation to medicines.

When things went wrong, there was little evidence of learning or action taken to make the required improvements. Investigations were not as thorough as they should be.

People were placed at potential risk of harm because not all staff had the skills and competence to recognise poor practice or to embed their training in line with best practice. Staff supervision and support was not consistent to monitor staff performance.

People’s nutritional support was affected by the inconsistent call visit times by staff. People told us they could receive their meals too close together or not at all.

Staff did not always treat people with respect or dignity. People did not always feel well-supported or cared for. People were not always involved in decisions about their care.

Complaint arrangements were not robust. When people raised a concern or complaint, these were not always recorded, investigated thoroughly or responded to in a timely way. Not all people had confidence their concerns would be taken seriously.

There was a lack of consistency in how well the service is managed and led. The leadership and governance arrangements were not effective or robust to ensure people received care and support that is person-centred and responsive to their needs.

People told us they were safe. The service had effective safeguarding arrangements in place to protect people from harm and abuse. People were protected by the prevention and control of infection.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the service’s first inspection since being registered with the Care Quality Commission in March 2018.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection in line with our scheduled inspection methodology.

Follow up:

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk