Smartway Health and Social Care Limited

We identified 2 breaches of regulation in relation to shortfalls in the how staff were safely recruited and in how the service ensured there were sufficient numbers of staff employed to meet the needs of people being supported. There were shortfalls in the management of medicines as accurate records were not being maintained and competency assessments were not being completed to ensure staff were safely administering medicines to people. People were not clearly involved in decisions around their initial care and risks were not always safely managed as guidance around how to support a person was not always comprehensive and detailed. Staff were not always attending people at the times needed and did not always stay the allocated time which impacted upon people’s safety and the quality of care people received.

Only one quality statement for this key question was reveiwed at this assessment. Findings from previous assessments of the service have been used to develop an overall scoring for this key question. People spoke positively overall about the staff although there were concerns about certain members of the team and how they understood people’s needs and provided care.

Only one quality statement for this key question was reveiwed at this assessment. Findings from previous assessments of the service have been used to develop an overall scoring for this key question. People and relatives mostly felt able to provide feedback. The registered manager understood the importance of ensuring equity of experience for people and the impact of discrimination.

We identified 1 breach of regulation as the service did not have suitable systems of oversight to ensure people received safe and effective care. This meant action to address shortfalls was not taken in a timely way. Staff spoke positively about the registered manager and people and staff mostly felt able to raise concerns. However, it was not evident that sufficient action was taken to address issues such as call management and staffing. The service did not have clear visions, processes for learning and driving improvement and shared responsibility between the registered manager and provider for oversight of the service.