Observe Care Ltd

Updated 1 January 2022

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 was undertaken by one inspector and Expert by Experience who made phone calls to people and their relatives for feedback. 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.

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 visit because it is small, and the registered manager is often out of the office. We needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection site visit activity took place on 17 November 2021. We visited the office location to see the manager and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with one person, one relative, the registered manager and two administrative staff. We reviewed the care record of one person using the service, three staff files including recruitment, training and supervision; quality assurance records and other records relating to the management of the service. After the inspection, we spoke with two care staff to obtain their feedback about the service.

Updated 1 January 2022

About the service: Observe Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. 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. At this inspection, one person was receiving personal care from the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were safeguarded from abuse as there were systems and processes that enabled this. Staff had received safeguarding training and knew to report any concerns to the registered manager. Staff administered people’s medicines in a safe way. Recruitment checks were carried out on staff before they started work. There were enough staff available to support people with their needs. There were systems in place to report incidents and accidents and the registered manager took actions to mitigate further risks. Risk to people were assessed, and management plans were developed to reduce risks. Staff followed infection control procedures to reduce the risk of infections.

People’s needs were assessed appropriately. People were supported to eat and drink enough and to meet their dietary and nutritional needs. People were supported to access the healthcare services they needed to maintain their health and well-being. Staff were inducted into their roles when they started, and they received regular supervision and training to be effective in their roles.

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 support this practice. People and where appropriate their relatives consented to their care before they were delivered. Staff and the provider understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Staff treated people with dignity and respect. People and their relatives were involved in planning for their care. Staff were kind and patient with people. People and their relatives knew how to raise their concerns and complaints about the service. The registered manager checked and assessed the quality of service delivered to people. The provider worked in partnership with other organisations to develop and improve the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

This service was registered with us on 23/11/2017 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on regulatory requirements to rate the service.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.