Maria's Homecare Companions Ltd

Updated 28 August 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors. One inspector visited the office and then made contact with people by email and telephone, one inspector made contact with people following the visit.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The registered manager is also the nominated individual and provider of this service. This person is 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. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 23 June 2021 and ended on 28 June 2021. We visited the office location on 23 June 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered, this included statutory notifications received from the service. Statutory notifications include important information which the provider is required by law to send us. We asked the registered manager to send us a range of information about the service including policies and documents about how the service was run. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report

During the inspection

We spoke with two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three office managers including the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We spoke with three people who use the service and four relatives. We spoke with five care staff and continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with an external professional who knew the service.

Updated 28 August 2021

About the service

Maria’s Homecare Companions is a home care service providing support and personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 24 people receiving personal care from 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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives felt they were safe and cared for. People’s choices and preferences were identified and respected by staff who understood their needs and wishes. There were safe processes and practices to manage people’s medicine and to manage the risk of infection.

People’s care needs had been effectively assessed and staff had the skills and knowledge to provide person centred care. Care was individually tailored to what people wanted and needed. People’s health and wellbeing was monitored with them and their representatives and any changes were responded to promptly.

People experienced kind and caring support from managers and care staff. People and relatives felt their views were listened to and respected. People were supported to remain in their homes when this was their choice and their independence and dignity was promoted.

The service worked with health professionals to support people’s health and wellbeing needs and goals. People and relatives were confident to raise concerns and issues with the service and experienced responsive changes and improvements.

Managers were approachable and easy to contact. People, relatives and staff told us there was an open culture of feedback and development of the service. They felt their feedback and contribution was valued and that the provider worked in partnership to provide good care.

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.

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

Rating at the last inspection

This service was registered with us on 01/05/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was planned due to the length of time the service had been registered without being rated.

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.