Bloomsbury Home Care - Suffolk

People were supported by a care team who were safely recruited, received relevant training and knew how to protect them from potential harm.

People received their medicines as prescribed. Staff adhered to infection prevention and control procedures in line with legislative requirements and recognised best practice guidelines.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The provider's governance systems and regular audits had identified improvements were needed in the service to improve reliability, continuity of care and address inconsistences with the leadership and management of the service. 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. In response the provider had recently appointed a new manager and recruited additional care staff who were going through induction.

Improvements were needed to ensure an open and transparent culture in the service. People and relatives shared communication issues including language barriers and cultural understanding when they contacted the service. Not all staff felt supported and valued in their role, citing difficulties in speaking up and being heard by management.

The provider took immediate action to address this, making changes in their oversight arrangements to provide more visible support and utilising resources from their other services so feedback could be obtained without bias. We were encouraged by the actions being taken but this is a work in progress and too early to assess overall effectiveness.