Care Concern (NW)

Updated 30 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 was completed by an inspector and two experts by experience who made phone calls to people in their homes. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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 because some of the people using it could not consent to a phone call from the Expert by experience.

Inspection activity started on 24 June 2022 and ended on 29 June 2022. We visited the location’s office/service on 24 June 2022.

What we did before the inspection

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 18 people and their relatives about their experience of the care provided and we spoke with seven members of staff including the nominated individual/registered manager and the legal and compliance officer. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with two health and social care professionals who work closely with the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four 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.

Updated 30 July 2022

About the service

Care Concern is a home care provider which offers domiciliary care and support for people within their own homes. The service was providing support to 318 people at the time of the inspection.

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 confirmed they received their medications on time. Some people said staff were sometime late, however this was not very often. Staff knew how to report safeguarding concerns and staff were recruited safely. People told us they felt safe receiving care from Care Concern (NW). Comments included, “I have a group of carers. They’re all lovely. They always introduce themselves. You can have a giggle.” Another person said they felt safe because “We mostly see the same people. They are on a rota so we know who is coming.”

There were comprehensive risk assessments in place which were tailored to reflect each person’s assessed need. and incidents and accidents were clearly recorded, and lessons had been routinely learned.

The registered manager understood their role and responsibilities and had reported all notifiable incidents to CQC. There were audits and quality checks in place, complete with action plans when there were shortfalls identified in care provision. Feedback from people was sought and any areas of concern were identified and investigated.

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 – The last rating for this service was good (published 25 April 2019)

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staffing, missed visits and oversight. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has remained the same.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Care Concern (NW) on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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