Opal Carers Ltd

Updated 15 July 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. 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 team consisted of one 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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. 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 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 30 June 2022 and ended on 4 July 2022. We visited the location’s office on 4 July 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were first registered. 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. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two relatives and one advocate about their experiences of the service. We spoke with the registered manager and reviewed a range of records including two people’s care records, medicines administration records for one person, two staff records and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 15 July 2022

About the service

Opal Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. 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 our inspection there were three people using the service.

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

People were safe. Staff had been trained to safeguard people from abuse and knew how to manage risks to people, to keep them safe. There were enough staff to support people and meet their needs. The provider carried out recruitment and criminal records checks on new staff to make sure they were suitable to support people. Staff followed current practice when providing personal care and when preparing and handling food which reduced infection and hygiene risks in people’s homes.

People were satisfied with the care and support they received from staff. People were involved in planning their care and support and could state their preferences for how this was provided. They received the care and support that had been planned and agreed with them because staff knew people well and understood how their needs and preferences should be met.

Staff received relevant training to help them meet people’s needs. Staff were well supported and encouraged to continually learn and improve in their role. The registered manager carried out spot checks on staff to make sure they were carrying out their duties appropriately and to a high standard.

Where the service was responsible for this, staff helped people to eat and drink enough to meet their needs and to take their prescribed medicines. Staff understood people’s healthcare needs and how they should be supported with these. Staff were kind and caring and respected people’s rights to privacy, dignity and independence.

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.

The registered manager monitored and reviewed the quality of service that people experienced. They checked with people at regular intervals that the care and support provided was meeting their needs and sought their views about how the service could improve. There were arrangements in place to make sure any accidents, incidents and complaints would be fully investigated and people would be involved and informed of the outcome. The registered manager worked proactively with healthcare professionals involved in people’s care and acted on their recommendations to deliver care and support that met people’s needs.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 4 November 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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