Background to this inspection
Updated
1 March 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team: One inspector carried out this inspection.
Service and service type: The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to adults of all ages.
The service had two managers registered with the Care Quality Commission and they are also the owners or provider of the service. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. We will refer to them as the provider throughout this report.
Notice of inspection: This inspection was announced to ensure the provider was available to support the process.
What we did: We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as serious injuries; and we sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us when requested to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
Inspection site visit activity started on 14 January 2019 and ended on 15 January 2019. We visited the office location on 15 January 2019 to see the provider and review records.
During the inspection, we spoke with two people who used the service and two relatives over the telephone to ask about their experience of the care provided. We visited four people in their own homes. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered managers, assistant manager and three care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at one staff file in relation to recruitment and two to review staff supervision records. Multiple records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider were reviewed during and after the inspection.
Updated
1 March 2019
About the service: The service supports people with personal care needs in their own home. The service supported 26 people when we inspected. Some people were living with dementia and some had a physical disability or sensory impairment.
People’s experience of using this service: All the people and relatives we spoke with felt staff provided care in a dignified and respectful way. Positive relationships had been fostered between staff and the people they cared for which meant they understood people’s preferences, but also that they enjoyed and valued each other’s company.
People told us their feelings of wellbeing benefited from the person centred approach staff had to their work. People were able to describe the little things staff did which meant a lot to them and made them feel valued and cared for. The service was responsive to people’s changing needs and people felt involved and listened to. The service paid attention to people’s social needs and worked to overcome isolation for people.
The provider had challenged themselves since the last inspection and improved the care plan systems, medicines management and their approach to monitoring quality and safety. They told us they felt more confident and understood better what was happening in the service because of this.
Staff felt supported and felt more confident now they had better systems to support them to fulfil their role. All the staff understood the providers vision to ensure people were treated as individuals and worked to ensure they delivered person centred care for people. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
The provider involved people, relatives and staff in the management of the service and used feedback to determine how they could continuously improve. Everyone we spoke with felt confident to raise concerns to the provider and understood they would be listened to and acted upon.
For more details, please see the full report below which is also on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated requires improvement (published 19 January 2018).
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.