Carefour

Updated 17 April 2019

The inspection: We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, 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 adult social care inspector.

Service and service type: Carefour is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care support to people in their own homes.

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: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because it is a small service and we needed to ensure people would be available.

Inspection site visit activity started on 13 February 2019. We visited the office location to see the registered manager; review care records and policies and procedures and interview staff. We also visited one person using the service at their home. On 14 February 2019, we spoke with a further three people using the service and five relatives over the telephone to gather their views of the service.

What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the statutory notifications sent to us by the provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law. We also contacted the commissioners of the service to gain their views.

The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan how the inspection should be conducted.

During the inspection we spoke with the four people using the service, five relatives, the registered manager, care manager, directors and received feedback from three other members of care staff.

We looked at four people’s care files, three staff recruitment records, medicine administration charts and other records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service.

Updated 17 April 2019

About the service: Carefour is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care support to people in their own homes. The service was supporting 18 people with a regulated activity (personal care), at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: Staff understood and provided care that was kind, caring and compassionate and this was continuously promoted by all the management team. Staff spoke about people they supported with warmth and compassion and it was clear that staff knew the people they supported well. This was supported by detailed personal histories in people's care files, enabling staff to get to know people as individuals.

People were extremely positive about the support they received. People's dignity, privacy and independence was promoted by staff when providing support. The registered manager understood the need for people to be supported by staff who they knew, had developed relationships with and that they could trust. Staff had developed respectful relationships with people and their wider support networks and understood that supporting people’s family members was an essential part of the support package.

People and their relatives, were actively involved in their care and their views of the service were regularly sought as a means to continuously improve the service.

People told us they received safe care by staff they knew and who knew them. Staff had been safely recruited to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Sufficient numbers of staff had been recruited and people told us they always arrived at the time they expected them and stayed for the contracted amount of time.

Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding and we found that safeguarding referrals had been made appropriately. Risks to people had been assessed and measures put in place to reduce these risks. A system was in place to record any accidents and incidents that occurred in people's homes. Incidents were reviewed for any themes or tends to help prevent recurrence.

Staff felt well supported in their role and able to raise any issues with senior staff and the registered manager. Regular training had been completed by staff and they received supervisions to further support them in their posts.

People’s consent to their care and treatment was sought and recorded in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The service worked with other professionals and agencies to help ensure people's needs were met effectively. Advice provided was clearly recorded and followed by staff.

Care plans were detailed and included people's needs and preferences in relation to their care.

People told us the service was well managed. Regular checks were made to help ensure the quality and safety of the service.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection of the service; there is no previous rating.

Why we inspected: This was a planned comprehensive inspection scheduled in line with CQC timescales for inspecting new services.

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.