Kris Carers Ltd

Updated 28 June 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors 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.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to be sure there would be people available to speak with us. Inspection activity started on 23 May 2023 when we visited the location’s office. On 23 and 24 May 2023 we made telephone calls to people and relatives to get their views on the service

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We sought feedback from the local authority. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 people who used the service and 5 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, director of finance, administrator, care co-ordinator, care manager and two care workers. We reviewed a range of records including 4 people’s care records and medication records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment, training, and staff supervision. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 28 June 2023

About the service

Kris Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 42 people using the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

Right Support:

People and relatives were mostly satisfied with the service, and some said it had improved. The provider had new systems in place to check the care and support provided was of good quality. Some changes were needed to the service’s registered service user bands to ensure people’s needs could always be met.

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.

Right Care:

Staff provided safe care and knew how to protect people from harm. They followed people’s care plans and risk assessments which were personalised. Some improvements were needed to medicines records.

People and relatives made many positive comments about the caring nature of the staff. Staff were safely recruited. They told us they enjoyed working for the service and were well-supported by the registered manager and other senior staff.

Right Culture:

People and relatives said managers and staff listened to them and made changes where necessary. They had the opportunity to complete quality assurance surveys which were used to improve the service.

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 Inadequate (published 28 November 2022). At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

This service has been in Special Measures since 28 November 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as Inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 11, 12 and 26 October 2022. Breaches of legal requirements were found and a Warning Notice served in relation to Regulations 12 and 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We undertook this focused inspection to confirm the provider now met legal requirements.

This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Inadequate to Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kris Carers Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

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