Karia Care Services

Updated 10 November 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 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

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

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 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.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We reviewed the action plan the provider sent us. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records and risk assessments and 2 people's medicines records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, staff training, satisfaction surveys, policies and procedures. We also spoke with the registered manager and care co-ordinator.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We also looked at 3 people's electronic call monitoring data. We spoke with the registered manager, nominated individual, senior care worker, care co-ordinator and a care worker, 1 person who used the service and 2 relatives by telephone about their experience of the care provided.

Updated 10 November 2023

About the service

Karia Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received the regulated activity of 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 the time of this inspection, the service was providing personal care to 5 people in their own homes.

People’s experience of the service and what we found

Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Risk assessments had been carried out to identify the risks people faced. These included information about how to mitigate those risks.

There were enough staff working at the service to meet people's needs and the provider had robust staff recruitment practices in place. Medicines were managed in a safe way. Infection control and prevention systems were in place. Accidents and incidents were reviewed to see if any lessons could be learnt from them.

Assessments were carried out of people's needs prior to the provision of care to determine if their needs could be met at the service. Staff were supported through training and supervision to gain knowledge and skills to help them in their role.

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.

People and relatives told us staff were caring and that they treated people with respect. Staff understood how to support people in a way that promoted their privacy, independence and dignity. The service sought to meet people's needs in relation to equality and diversity.

Care plans were in place for people which set out how to meet their needs in a person-centred way. Systems were in place for dealing with complaints, and complaints had been dealt with accordingly.

Quality assurance and monitoring systems were in place to help drive improvements at the service. Staff told us there was an open and positive culture at the service. People were supported to express their views. The provider was aware of their legal obligations and worked with other agencies to develop best practice and share knowledge.

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 Requires Improvement (published on 22 April 2022) and there were breaches of regulation 9 (person-centred care), regulation 12 (safe care and treatment), regulation 17 (good governance), regulation 18 (staffing), and regulation 19 (fit and proper persons employed).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do to improve. At this inspection we found the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Karia Care Services on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating and when the service was last inspected.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 28 April 2022 and breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve regulation 9 (person-centred care), regulation 12 (safe care and treatment), regulation 17 (good governance), regulation 18 (staffing), and regulation 19 (fit and proper persons employed).

Follow Up

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