We carried out a review of the data available to us about Care South Home Care Services Dorset on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Care South Home Care Services Dorset, you can give feedback on this service.
• People told us they felt safe. Comments received included; “Yes most definitely,” and one person described how they “Feel very comfortable with them [staff] in my house.”
• People's needs and risks had been assessed and care and support was delivered as they expected and needed.
• Staff cared about the well being of people they supported and we received positive feedback from relatives and people about the kindness of staff. One relative told us “The whole team are fantastic,”
• Staff were compassionate towards the people they provided support to. There were many examples of staff providing care to people when it was their day or weekend off. Staff were praised for their “Reliability and kindness.”
• People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint if they needed to and felt any concerns would be taken seriously and promptly.
• The service actively promotes assistive technology to help people to remain independent and safe.
• There were quality assurance systems in place to drive improvement.
• More information is in the full report.
Rating at last inspection: GOOD (The date last report published was 6 June 2016).
About the service: Care South Home Care Services Dorset provides support and personal care to people who live in their own homes in the Bournemouth and Christchurch area. At the time of our inspection they were providing personal care to 63 people.
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains Good.
Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated as Good.
Care South Home Care Services Dorset provides personal care and support to people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection they were providing personal care and support to over 70 people.
The service had a registered manager, as the law requires. 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 valued highly the service they received. They told us that staff were professional, caring and friendly, treating them as individuals and respecting their wishes regarding care. Without exception they said that staff understood and provided the care and support they needed.
People’s care and support was planned proactively in partnership with them and, where appropriate, their families and representatives. Their care was personalised to meet their individual needs and their consent to care was sought. Staff had a good understanding of people's care plans, which were thorough but straightforward to follow.
The service was responsive to people’s individual needs and preferences and found creative, innovative ways to support them to live as full a life as possible. The registered manager recognised the importance of providing meaningful activities and stimulation for people living with dementia. The service had obtained ‘dementia boxes’ for staff to use when working with people who live with dementia. The service had worked with a student from a local university to advise him in the development of a tool to remind people living with dementia to eat at regular intervals. Staff were encouraged to go above and beyond what was expected in care packages to work with people who need extra support. For example, two people living with mental health difficulties had become socially isolated. Care workers worked with them in a way that enhanced their sense of wellbeing and considerably improved their quality of life.
People received care and support from regular staff who were themselves well supported through supervision and training.
There were sufficient staff working for the service to provide the care people needed. People received rotas in advance so that they knew which staff would be visiting them. They said that staff stayed for the full length of the visit, if not longer, and that they were generally punctual.
The service responded promptly to changes in people’s situations to ensure their needs were met, where necessary linking with other services and support networks to do so. All the office staff were trained and skilled in providing care and support and covered calls at short notice if for any reason care workers were unable to attend.
Medicines were managed safely.
Staff had the knowledge and confidence to identify and report signs of abuse. Safe recruitment practices were followed before new staff were employed to work with people, including obtaining references and criminal records checks.
People were actively encouraged to give their views and the service was developing innovative ways of enabling them to do so. For example, the registered manager had recently established a regular ‘coffee morning’ focus group. This was open to all people who used the service and their families who wished to attend.
Concerns and complaints were taken seriously and used as an opportunity for learning, to improve the service.
Quality assurance systems, such as audits and surveys of people using the service, were in place to monitor the quality of care and support that people received. Learning from accidents, incidents and the results of audits was communicated to staff.
Care South Home Care Services Dorset is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes for up to 45 people. At the time of the inspection there were 45 people using the service and receiving care and support in their homes. There was a registered manager present. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service and shares the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law with the provider.
On the day of the inspection people told us they felt safe and staff were kind and caring. One person said, "Oh yes, they are lovely, they really are. My regular [staff] is wonderful, when they are away; the others come and are all lovely."
Professionals were positive about the support given at Care South Home care services Dorset. One commented, "We have had no complaints or concerns about them from the public."
Staff received the support and training they needed in order to carry out their duties to a good standard. One member of staff told us, "Very good training. I can email head office and ask what training is available." Another member of staff told us, "I have a supervision every three months."
People who used the service and staff told us the management of the service was good and there was a positive relationship between staff and management. One member of staff told us, "I love this team; there is lots of respect and lots of support. I can speak to the registered manager about anything."
We found the service had a number of audits in place to monitor the quality of the service and learning from incidents and accidents took place.
Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and put them into practice to protect people.
On the first day of our inspection we looked at documentation such as care plans, visit schedules, policies and procedures, training records, staff records, surveys and audit material. We also met with two staff whose duties included visiting people to provide them with care and support. We talked to them about their work.
On our second day we visited four people in their own homes. We were accompanied on these visits by one of the agency’s home care supervisors.We also spoke with care workers who visited the four people about their work.
We telephoned relatives of two of the people we visited and both expressed positive views about the service their relatives received.
The provider had arrangements in place to obtain and act in accordance with the consent of people or their representatives for the care and support they received.
People were supported to safely manage medication prescribed for them.
The provider employed sufficient trained and experienced staff to provide the support people wanted and required.
Arrangements were in place to monitor the quality of the agency's service, to check procedures were carried out properly and identify and manage risks to people's welfare.
With their permission we visited five people in their homes accompanied by the registered manager for Care South Home Care. Some people were tenants in an extra-care sheltered housing scheme where care workers were on site 24 hours a day.
We also telephoned another seven people on Tuesday 1 May 2012. This was the day following our inspection visits. We spoke with either the individual receiving a service or their relatives about their experiences of the support and help provided to them by Care South Home Care.
People told us that care workers treated them with respect, they received the support and care they needed and that care workers were helpful. People said they were told in advance who the care workers were and the times they would be calling. They told us their help and support was usually provided by a regular team of care workers and that their visits were normally on time. One person expressed serious reservations about the timeliness of their care workers. They told us they were quite often late. They said they thought care workers were not given enough time for travelling between different people.
People told us they were fully involved in agreeing the care and support they received. They also said that they thought the care workers had the competence to meet their needs. One person said, 'They are marvellous. They always treat me with dignity. They put me at my ease. They ask what I want to wear and when bathing me ask me when I want to get out. They never rush me even though they only have half and hour in which to do it'.
People told us that they were contacted by Care South Home Care for their views about how the service they received could be improved. They said they knew how to complain about the service if they were dissatisfied. They told us that if they had raised concerns that Care South Home Care did try and resolve them.
We spoke with five care workers. They all spoke positively about working for Care South Home Care and particularly about the training and support they received from their employer.