A Caring Company is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection approximately 51 people were receiving support with personal care. The inspection was announced and took place on 22 and 23 June 2016.
The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People felt safe with the support they received from staff and were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff had a good awareness and understanding of how to identify abuse, and knew how to respond appropriately to any concerns that arose. People had risk assessments in place to enable them to be as independent as they could be and risks to their safety had been assessed so as to minimise the potential for reoccurrence.
There was sufficient numbers of staff on duty and we found that staff numbers were based upon the amount of care that people required. These were flexible and adaptable to ensure that people were kept safe. Robust recruitment procedures ensured that only staff who were considered suitable to support people worked within the service.
Medicines were managed safely. Systems were in place to ensure that people received their medication safely and in line with their prescriptions.
New staff received a robust induction which prepared them suitably for their role and assessed their competencies against essential standards. Staff also received a wide variety of training to help them carry out their roles and meet people’s needs. Regular supervision and annual appraisals, to further support and develop staff were also provided.
People were supported to make decisions about all aspects of their life; this process was further reinforced by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Wherever possible, people were actively involved in decisions about their care and support needs. The registered manager had a good understanding about how the service was required to uphold the principles of the MCA.
People were supported to take an adequate dietary intake, based upon specific dietary needs, if this was an assessed part of their care package. On-going engagement with healthcare professionals took place when needed to ensure that prompt action was taken in response to any changes in people’s physical and mental health.
People were very happy with the care and support they received from staff. They felt that staff treated them with kindness and compassion, in a friendly and caring manner. The delivery of care was based upon people’s individual needs and enabled them to have an active voice in the decision making process. Staff were also very knowledgeable about the specific needs of the people they supported and used this information to ensure that people received person centred care. Privacy and dignity was maintained at all times.
People's needs were assessed prior to them being provided with care and support. This process helped to ensure that their needs could be met by the service. Care plans were person centred and written in a way which described people's individual care needs with clarity, They were updated on a regular basis, or as and when people's care needs changed so that they remained reflective of people’s current requirements.
People knew how to make a complaint and were confident that the service would listen to them if they made one. Where action was required to be taken to address complaints, we found that lessons were learnt from this to drive future improvement and to improve the delivery of service to people.
There was an open culture at the service. People were positive about the care they received and were happy with the staff they saw. Staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities and were motivated to perform them well and meet people's needs. People and staff were positive about the leadership at the service. They felt well supported and were able to approach the registered manager and team leaders whenever they needed to. There were management systems in place to monitor and review the quality of care being provided and to identify areas for development.