Bloomsbury Home Care – Suffolk achieved an overall Good rating on its first inspection, with kind and competent staff delivering safe, effective and person-centred care to 14 people. However, Well-led was rated Requires Improvement due to inconsistent leadership, disruptions to continuity of care caused by staffing changes, and communication barriers between office management and people using the service and their relatives.
Concerns (5)
moderate
Missed or late visits
: “Times have got a bit later and I am not always told of the changes.”
moderateCommunication with families: “The office staff mean well but I think it is a language issue, they talk over me and don't listen... I end up frustrated and give up.”
moderateLeadership: “It is a caring service, the carers are brilliant and work really hard but at times it can be disorganised and chaotic, the rota is usually wrong.”
moderateGovernance: “Improvements were needed to ensure an open and transparent culture. Not all staff felt able to speak up and to raise any issues.”
moderateStaffing levels: “Staffing personnel changes had impacted on the service people received, causing some disruption which had affected continuity of care, a missed visit and some later than planned visits.”
Strengths
· People felt safe and staff demonstrated good knowledge of individual needs, risks and wellbeing.
· Medicines were managed safely with regular competency checks and effective monitoring of administration records.
· Staff were described as kind, compassionate and respectful, treating people with dignity and promoting independence.
· Risk assessments were thorough, regularly reviewed and guided staff on how to reduce identified risks.
· Safe recruitment processes including DBS checks and references were in place.
Quality-Statement breakdown (17)
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
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: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink; access healthcare services; staff working with other agenciesGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversity; involvement in decisionsGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and controlGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
well-led: Promoting a positive, open, inclusive culture; engaging people and staffRequires improvement
well-led: Managers and staff understanding roles, quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving care; working in partnership with othersRequires improvement