Well Care Cornwall

Well Care is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses or flats. At the time of our inspection there were 13 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People we spoke with were positive about the agency and the support provided. People told us, “Very happy. They [staff] always have a smile and time for a chat,” “Yes, they [staff] are all very patient and know what needs to be done” and “[Relative] has dementia and the staff really understand how to approach [the person] depending on their mood”.

Staff were recruited safely and were deployed to suit the specific needs of people. Managers recognised where some people responded more positively to some staff. Where staff found difficulties, managers understood this and adapted rotas where possible.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding about safeguarding people from the risk of abuse. Training was provided and regularly updated. Staff were reminded of safeguarding issues and practices in meetings to ensure information was up to date.

Staff managed medicines according to national guidelines. Support for people was planned to ensure the persons needs and wishes were considered. We did advise of a change in administering medicines which were set up by another person. Immediate action was taken to address this.

There were individual risk assessments which were person centred to ensure people were protected and could be supported safely.

There was a strong person-centred culture within the staff team. Care and support plans had been developed for people, to understand the reasons for some people’s behaviours and actions. They provided guidance for staff to ensure consistent approaches were used when supporting those people.

Staff knew clients well and demonstrated an understanding of their individual care, behavioural and communication needs. This helped ensure people people’s views were heard and their diverse needs met.

Staff were provided with personal protective equipment to protect people and themselves from the spread of infection.

Staff were supported by a system of induction, training, supervisions, appraisals and staff meetings. Staff were appropriately trained, and their competency regularly checked, to ensure people’s complex needs were met.

People’s relatives and staff told us management were approachable and they listened to them when they had any concerns or ideas. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to the service.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection:

We registered this service on 26 February 2021 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.