Background to this inspection
Updated
9 November 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
On 30 September 2019, one inspector carried out this inspection.
Service and service type
Welcombe Care provides a domiciliary care service to people in their own homes. CQC regulates the personal care provided.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
This first day of our inspection was announced.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was given 48 hours' notice because they provide care and support to people in their own homes. We needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office to speak with us.
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider had not been sent a provider information return (PIR) prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We gave the registered manager opportunity to show and tell us what they did well and what they were proud of, which we matched against evidence seen. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
Inspection site visit activity started on 30 September 2019 and was concluded on 10 October 2019.
On 30 September 2019 we visited the office location to speak with the registered manager, a care coordinator, a team leader and three care staff (all these staff and the registered manager provided care to people). We reviewed a range of records. This included examples of care records, daily records and medicines records. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service such as audits, complaints, compliments and people’s overall feedback about the service.
Following the inspection
We spoke on the telephone with three people and three relatives to ask them to tell us about their experiences of using this service.
Updated
9 November 2019
About the service
Welcombe Care is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes, including older people who have a physical disability or people living with dementia.
At the time of our visit the agency supported 59 people who received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do provider personal care, staff also consider any wider social care provided. Care calls were a minimum 30 minutes.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and relatives were very complimentary about the support they received. A typical comment was, “Welcombe Care are first class.”
People felt safe in their own homes receiving support from care staff. Relatives said staff were respectful, caring and understood how people wanted to receive their care. Staff knew how to protect people’s safety and welfare. Care staff were trained in safeguarding adults and staff understood how to protect people from abuse and poor practice.
People received their care calls at the right time, for the right duration and from a consistent staff team. People told us staff knew their routines and preferences really well.
Safe procedures to manage people's medicines and to prevent the risk of infection were understood and followed by staff. Regular checks by the registered manager ensured potential risks or errors were kept to a minimum.
People and their relatives made decisions about their care and were supported by staff who understood and followed the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 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.
People felt comfortable when they received support because staff respected their individual rights to privacy, dignity as well as promoting their independence. People’s preference for gender of staff, was respected which people said, made them feel more comfortable and trusting.
Care plans were personalised to support the person centred care the registered manager described was fundamental to their service. Some care plans we reviewed needed updating which had been recognised by the registered manager to ensure staff continued to provide the personalised care people needed.
People were in control of how their care was delivered. Ongoing reviews ensured it remained what people needed and where changes where needed, there was flexibility in call schedules to achieve this.
The provider’s governance systems were operated and managed effectively to ensure good care outcomes for people that continued to meet their needs. Daily records and medicines records completed in people’s homes were regularly checked so any issues could be addressed without delay.
There was an experienced registered manager. The registered manager and office staff team provided strong support to people they cared for and to their staff team. The provider had plans to increase the strength of the management team. The registered manager said this would help them have a better oversight, plus they could drive the quality of service forward. The provider was committed to providing a good quality service to people. It was evident they followed their own philosophy which was to ‘stay small and provide local care to a high standard’. People, relatives and staff found the management team open, approachable and responsive and they trusted the provider.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was Good (published 28 March 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned and announced inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The previous ‘good’ service provided to people had remained consistent.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.