Bolingo Care Birmingham Branch, a small domiciliary care agency, was rated overall Good at its first inspection, with four of five key questions rated Good. Well-led was rated Requires Improvement due to gaps in governance including the registered manager's incomplete awareness of notifiable events, unrecorded recruitment validation steps, and insufficient knowledge of duty of candour obligations.
Concerns (5)
moderate
Governance
: “Systems to oversee recruitment procedures had not identified that the process of validating references and conversations relating to a gap in employment history had not been recorded.”
moderateGovernance: “The registered manager was not fully aware of all events that were notifiable to us. This was important to ensure all potential risks were sufficiently managed.”
minorRecord keeping: “there was no record to state these [checks] happened. Completing a record of carrying out these checks would support in monitoring of this person's care need.”
minorLeadership: “the registered manager needed to further improve their knowledge about their obligations under duty of candour should something go wrong in the service.”
minorCare planning: “Whilst people were involved in developing and reviewing their care plan, their involvement in this process needed to be more clearly recorded.”
Strengths
· Staff understood risks associated with people's care and supported them safely, with care plans and risk assessments providing clear guidance.
· Safe recruitment procedures were in place including DBS checks and references.
· Staff received training in safeguarding, MCA, infection prevention and control, and medicines handling.
· People were supported to make choices about their care and treated with dignity and respect.
· Care plans were person-centred, considering outcomes, communication needs, cultural and spiritual needs.
Quality-Statement breakdown (23)
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
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; supporting people to live healthier lives and access healthcareGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
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 supportNot rated
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirements; continuous learningRequires improvement
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourRequires improvement
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staff, fully considering their equality characteristicsGood