Caring Connections Wigan

Updated 25 May 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 an inspector and 2 Experts by Experience, who conducted telephone calls with people using the service and their relatives. 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, flats and specialist housing.

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

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was to ensure the registered manager was available to support the inspection and to allow the provider time to gain consent from people using the service and their relatives, for us to contact them to ask about their experience of using the service. Inspection activity started on 17 April 2023 and ended on 9 May 2023, by which time we had sought the views of people, relatives and staff and had received and reviewed additional information requested and sent following the office visits. We conducted office visits on 18 and 19 April 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. This included notifications sent to us by the service. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send to us without delay. Prior to the inspection, the provider submitted a 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 8 people who used the service and 12 relatives about their experiences of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, nominated individual and 6 staff members in person and captured the views of 8 additional staff members via questionnaire. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 7 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 5 staff files in relation to recruitment, training and support. A variety of records relating to the management and oversight of the service were also reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to review information sent to us electronically, as well as seeking clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. This included reviewing medication records, care notes, call monitoring data, training information, policies and procedures, survey data, audit and quality monitoring information.

Updated 25 May 2023

About the service

Caring Connections Wigan is a domiciliary care company, who are part of Caring Connections, a registered charity who provide care services within the Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester areas. Caring Connections Wigan provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes.

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. At the time of our inspection there were 139 people in receipt of personal care and therefore included in the inspection.

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

We found improvements were required with the timings of people’s care visits, as these were not always completed in line with the agreed times as stated in their care plan. The provider’s audit process had not always identified these issues as actions had not been generated to drive improvements.

People and relatives told us the service provided safe care which met their needs. Staff received training in safeguarding and knew how to identify and report concerns. Risks to people had been assessed with guidance for staff to follow to ensure people’s safety. Medicines were administered safely by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent. Medicines records were not always completed correctly, although this had been identified through audits and monitoring.

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 receiving support with food and drink were happy with the assistance provided. Staff received the necessary training and support to provide safe and effective care. However, it was not clear whether staff had received supervision in line with the provider’s policy.

We have made a recommendation about the completion of staff supervision.

People and relatives were complimentary about the care and the staff who provided this. Care staff were described as kind, considerate and friendly. People told us their privacy and dignity were respected and care staff offered them choices and promoted their independence, as much as possible.

Care files explained how people wanted to be supported and contained lots of person-centred information, to ensure care staff knew people as individuals. Information was available in a range of formats to ensure it was accessible to all. The complaints process was provided to people at the beginning of their care package. Each person or relative we spoke with knew how to raise concerns, and where they had, told us improvements had been made.

People, relatives and staff were largely positive about the management of the service and support provided. A range of systems and processes were used to monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service. Some shortfalls with these had been identified by the provider and a new system introduced to better capture issues and actions taken. We noted a number of ways in which people and relatives were involved in the care provided. Additional services were offered to people and the wider public, to support their wellbeing.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 3 March 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. The inspection was carried out in order to provide an initial rating for the service.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified a breach in relation to the timings of people’s care visits.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.