Home Healthcare Delivery - South Tyneside

This assessment was undertaken due to serious concerns raised regarding the safe and effective care of people using the service. The overall rating following this assessment of Cera Care South Tyneside is requires improvement. We found one breach of regulation in relation to good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Risks to people were not always identified, assessed or managed effectively. This included concerns about self-neglect, late calls, medicines management and the consistency of care records. Oversight systems and audits had not always identified problems early enough or led to timely action.

The service showed some strength in supporting people’s health, wellbeing and communication needs, and staff were trained in key areas such as consent, infection prevention and safeguarding. Staff also described feeling supported by managers, and relatives were generally positive about the caring approach of frontline staff. The provider had already started to make improvements before and during the assessment, including stronger audit processes, updated risk alerts and better rota planning systems.

Staff were caring, generally knew people well, treated them with kindness and respect, and supported people to maintain choice, dignity and independence. Care plans were usually personalised, and people and relatives were involved in planning care.

Leaders had introduced stronger audit processes, updated risk alerts and management training to improve safety and accountability. The provider had also taken steps to innovate, including using artificial intelligence (AI) during initial assessments to better capture people’s needs and an external route-planning system to improve call scheduling and reduce delays.

These improvements supported a greater level of person-centred care. However, leadership, oversight and some aspects of safety were not yet strong or consistent enough to provide full assurance. Although improvements were underway, more time was needed to show they were fully embedded and delivering sustained better outcomes.

We assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed autistic people and people with a learning disability respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.