Conan Room

Updated 26 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:

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The Expert by Experience had experience of supporting and caring for young and older people.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides personal care to adults with a range of support needs, including dementia and physical disability.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service short notice of the inspection because we wanted to visit people in their homes and we needed support from the registered manager to arrange this.

Inspection site visit activity started on 4 March 2019 and ended on 5 March 2019.

On the 4 March 2019 we visited three people in their homes to ask their opinions about the care they received and look at their care records. Whilst out on visits the care coordinator accompanied us. We also spoke over the telephone with five people who used the service and three relatives. We also contacted via e-mail 18 staff and five staff replied to our request for information.

On the 5 March 2019 we visited the office location. The registered manager was on annual leave so we met with the human resources manager. We reviewed care records, staff records and policies and procedures relating to the service.

What we did:

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Prior to the inspection visit we gathered information from many sources. We looked at the information received about the service from notifications sent to the Care Quality Commission by the registered manager. We also spoke with the local authority commissioners, contracts officers and safeguarding, and Healthwatch (Doncaster). Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

Updated 26 March 2019

About the service:

Conan Room is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to adults with a range of support needs, in their own homes.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

Conan Room was providing personal care to 38 people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

People supported by the service and their relatives consistently told us the registered manager and staff who supported them were pleasant, reliable, caring and professional in their approach to their work. They spoke positively about the quality of service provided. One person told us, “The staff are friendly, helpful and very professional. They genuinely care and chat with me about how I am and how my family are. I am very satisfied, they are respectful.” One relative told us, “I have absolutely no complaints. The staff can’t do enough for [relative], they are excellent, nice and kind I wouldn’t change anything.”

Staff had a good understanding in how to protect people from harm, and recognised different types of abuse and how to report it. Potential risks to people had been identified and people had been involved with decisions in how to reduce the risk of harm to them.

There were enough staff employed to keep people safe and meet their needs. Staff retention was good and people told us they were supported by staff who knew them and consistently met their needs. Staffing levels were continuously reviewed to ensure there were enough staff to provide flexible and responsive care.

People's medicines were managed in a safe way. Safe practice was carried out to reduce the risk of infection.

People's care and support had been planned proactively and in partnership with them. People felt

consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered. 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.

Staff knew people well and supported them in line with their current needs and wishes. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s likes and dislikes and personal preferences. This helped people and staff to engage in meaningful conversations and develop strong relationships.

People and their relatives felt able to raise complaints and were confident that appropriate actions would be taken to address their concerns.

The registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. This meant areas identified for improvement through the quality monitoring processes could be actioned in a timely manner.

More information is in the full report

Rating at last inspection:

Requires improvement (report published on 21 March 2018).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating awarded at the last inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned for future dates.