Universal Care Agency Ltd

“We carried out this assessment to check if the provider had taken action to make the improvements we identified during our previous assessment.”

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“Universal Care Agency Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to people living in their own homes. CQC only inspects services where people receive the regulated activity of personal care. Personal care includes support with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where people receive wider social care support, we also consider this as part of our assessment.”

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“The service supported older people and people living with physical disabilities, dementia and sensory impairment. Not everyone using the service received the regulated activity of personal care. At the time of this assessment, the provider supported 13 people.”

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“The provider was previously in breach of the legal regulations in relation to good governance. Not enough improvements were not found at this assessment, and the provider remained in breach of this regulation. ​​The provider was also in breach of the legal regulations relating to safe care and treatment and fit and proper persons employed.”

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“The provider did not operate safe recruitment practices and failed to ensure all required pre-employment checks had been completed before staff started work. People’s medicines were not always managed safely. Risk assessments lacked sufficient detail and accuracy to guide staff in keeping people safe. This included information available in people's homes relating to fire safety and pressure care risks. The provider did not operate effective quality monitoring and governance systems to identify and address shortfalls in a timely way. Ineffective oversight and governance arrangements contributed to the breaches identified during this assessment.”

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“Leaders provided staff with support to carry out their roles. Staff told us they enjoyed working for the provider and appreciated having regular people to care for, which helped them build positive relationships and understand people's needs.”

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“We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment. We will also continue to monitor improvements in governance arrangements through the provider’s monthly action plan submissions.”