Archived: Carewatch (Darlington)

Updated 7 February 2014

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. It was also part of the first testing phase of the new inspection process CQC is introducing for adult social care services. The inspection consisted of a lead inspector and a second inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed all of the information we held about the service. We had previously carried out an inspection of the service on 29 April 2013 and we found that they were meeting all of the national standards we assessed. We also spoke with a social care professional who worked for one of the local authorities who commissioned a service from the agency to ask them for their views about the effectiveness of the service.

On the day of the inspection we spent time speaking with office staff and care workers, and we visited five people in their own home.  We spent time looking at records, which included people’s care and treatment records, staff records and records relating to the management of the service.

Following the day of the inspection we spoke with ten people who used the service or their relatives. Overall we spoke with fifteen people in total; twelve people who used the service and three relatives.

The provider information record was not received until after we had completed the site visit. However, we have read the information supplied by the agency and have included some information in this report.

Updated 7 February 2014

Carewatch (Darlington) is a care service that provides support to people in their own home. The agency office is located close to the town centre and there is parking space available for staff and other people who may wish to visit the office.  The service is registered to provide a domiciliary care service to people who live in their own home with either personal care or daily living tasks. Managers told us that the agency currently provides a service to 51 people and that they employ 30 care workers.

There was no registered manager in post at the time of this inspection. The previous registered manager had left the service in July 2012.  A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and shares the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law with the provider. The lack of a registered manager led to some concerns being expressed by people who used the service and relatives. However, the organisation had held interviews and a suitable person had been selected to take on the role of manager. In the interim period the operations manager was overseeing the service.

Staff had undertaken training on safeguarding adults from abuse and they displayed a good knowledge of the action they would take to manage any incidents or allegations of abuse.  People told us that they felt safe whilst staff were with them in their home.

People told us that they felt care workers cared about them and listened to them. They gave very positive feedback about individual care workers.

There were care plans in place that described people’s individual lifestyles and also set out people’s support needs and how these would be met. Each person’s care needs were reviewed regularly and staff were kept informed about any changes to a person’s care needs so that they could provide the right level of care or support.

People were supported to remain as independent as possible and to retain contact with the local community. There were appropriate risk assessments in place that allowed people to take responsibility for their actions and be as independent as possible, but remain safe. Staff had undertaken training on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, although none of the people who were supported by the service were subject to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

Staff had undertaken training that provided them with the skills to carry out their role effectively. People who used the service told us that staff had the right kind of knowledge and skills and that they were reliable and trustworthy. They said that they arrived at the right time and stayed for the agreed length of time.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place that monitored people’s satisfaction with the service and that the systems in place were being followed by staff. Any areas that required improvement were identified and action had been taken to ensure that issues and concerns had been dealt with appropriately.