About the service:

TLB 24/7 is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection it was providing services to around 50 people although not all of these were receiving a regulated activity.

People’s experience of using this service:

We found that people received a good service. The provider ensured care was delivered in a safe way, and had introduced a range of systems since the last inspection to ensure care was monitored effectively.

People told us they felt the staff were caring. They told us at times staff seemed rushed and their visit times were not always at the times they would wish, although everyone we spoke with told us they had seen improvements in this recently. They all praised the staff, with one saying: “Even if they are late, their kindness makes up for it.”

Staff received training which was relevant to their roles. The provider had invested in training some staff to be trainers so that training could be tailored to people’s individual needs.

People were supported in maintaining good health, and staff liaised with external healthcare providers where appropriate to ensure that care was provided in a way that met people’s needs.

Staff told us they felt supported by managers at the service, and we found the management team had a good oversight of the day to day operations of the service.

More information is in the full report

Rating at last inspection:

Good. The report was published on 24 May 2017.

Why we inspected:

We had received concerning information about the service from staff and relatives of people using the service. This related to allegations of medication errors, of staff not having adequate background checks and of injuries going unreported. We confirmed during the inspection that an incident had not been reported to CQC, but found that staff had appropriate background checks and also that the provider had addressed medication shortfalls.

The inspection took place on 9 May 2017, with the provider being given short notice of the visit to the office in line with our current methodology for inspecting domiciliary care agencies. The service registered in 2016, therefore this was the first inspection of this location.

TLB 24/7 Healthcare Ltd provides personal care to people living in their own homes in Rotherham and surrounding local authority areas. At the time of the inspection they were providing support to one person. In addition to providing personal care the provider also operated an agency supplying care staff and nurses to other providers, however, this activity does not fall within the scope of CQC registration and therefore was not considered as part of this inspection.

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We spoke with the one person who was using the service at the time of the inspection and they told us their experience of the care provided by the service was good. Staff received training in dignity, privacy and confidentiality as part of their induction.

There were systems in place to assess and monitor potential risks to individual people. Risk assessments were up to date and detailed.

We found recruitment processes were thorough, which helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff, and staff received a detailed induction and training which equipped them to meet the needs of vulnerable adults.

Records demonstrated people’s capacity to make decisions had been considered as part of their care assessment.

There was a system in place to tell people how to make a complaint and how it would be managed, and the person using the service at the time of the inspection told us they would be confident complaining if they needed to.

The registered manager had a clear oversight of the business and had plans in place to develop and improve the service.There was management support available to staff including by means of a 24 hour telephone line which we observed to be effective.