31 March 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Birchwood Care Services is a domiciliary agency providing the regulated activity of personal care. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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 the inspection 8 people were using 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 were supported by a small team of regular staff. Agency staff were used to cover sickness. The number of missed or late calls had reduced, however there had still been several calls cancelled by the provider due to staff sickness. This was an area for improvement. People told us they were contacted if their care calls were running late or needed to be cancelled.
Risks to people’s health and safety had been assessed. Risk assessments, to make sure staff had the guidance to provide the right support, had been implemented. People received their medicines safely and staff competencies were checked to make sure they followed best practice.
Checks and audits, to monitor the quality and safety of the service, had been implemented. Some of these had been introduced in March and needed to be embedded into day-to day practice.
People were supported by staff who had been recruited safely. Staff met with a manager for one-to-one supervision to discuss their performance and any developmental needs.
People were involved in the planning of their care. People told us staff were supportive and encouraging. People felt the communication had improved.
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 last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was inadequate (published 17 January 2023). There were breaches of regulation.
The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
This service has been in Special Measures since 17 January 2023. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
We undertook this inspection to check whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulations 12, 17 and 18 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.