Background to this inspection
Updated
9 December 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 team consisted of 1 inspector and an Expert by Experience. 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 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 because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 4 July 2023 and ended on 18 July 2023. We visited the location’s office on 5 July 2023 and 14 July 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 4 people who used the service and 3 relatives to gather feedback on the care and safety of the service.
We spoke to staff, including the registered manager and service manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records, multiple medication records and maintenance and safety certificates. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including 3 staff recruitment records and quality assurance procedures.
Updated
9 December 2023
About the service
Cumberland Care Reablement and Domiciliary Service – North is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and a reablement service to people living in their own homes. The reablement service provides intensive support for up to six weeks to enable people to become more independent in their own homes after a time in hospital or a spell of illness. The agency can only provide care purchased through the local authority.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were supported with their medication and staff were trained in this. Medication audits were in place and were effective at identifying issues. The provider had processes in place to respond to and promote learning from these.
People were involved in developing person-centred care plans which reflected their preferences. Risks to people and staff had been assessed with appropriate measures in place to help protect people. The registered manager had processes to monitor the safety of people and staff.
People's feedback of the service was positive. People told us they were treated with dignity. They also told us they felt very safe. They told us the registered manager was approachable and supportive.
Staff were trained and well supported in their roles by the registered manager. Best practice and good care was encouraged with systems in place to share this with the team. Recruitment processes were robust.
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.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
Right Support: Model of Care and setting that maximises people’s choice, control and independence
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.
Right Care: Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights
Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 9 November 2018.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Cumberland Care Reablement and Domiciliary Service – North 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.