Archived: CORCARE

Updated 25 February 2020

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care 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 for older people.

Service and service type

CORCARE is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. This includes people with physical disabilities and dementia care needs. The service provides short visits at key times of the day to support people with specific tasks to enable people to continue to live in their own homes.

At the time of the inspection the service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. There was a manager in post and they had submitted an application to become the registered manager. A registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours notice of the inspection visit because it is a domiciliary service and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that we could access the office premises to look at records and arrange to visit people in their own homes.

The inspection started on 21 January 2020 and ended on 30 January 2020. We make phone calls to people and staff on 27, 28 and 29 January 2020. We visited the office location on 23 and 30 January 2020 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we made the judgements in this report. We also reviewed notifications we had been sent. Notifications are specific issues that registered people must tell us about.

During the inspection

We spoke with 14 care staff, the manager, the operations manager and a team leader. We visited three people in their own homes and met two relatives. We telephoned 14 people and five relatives to gain their views of the service, this included people receiving a service under the NHS project. We reviewed records of staff rotas, staff recruitment, training and support as well as audits and quality assurance reports.

After the inspection

We continued to receive further information from the service. The service provided records relating to staff training and quality assurance information. We received feedback from a healthcare professional.

Updated 25 February 2020

About the service

Corcare is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to predominantly older people living in their own homes throughout Cornwall. The service was set up to provide home care support for people living in rural areas not covered by other care agencies. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to approximately 72 people.

People’s experience of using this service

People and their relatives told us they received a reliable service, had agreed the times of their visits and were kept informed of any changes. People felt safe using the service and staff treated them in a caring and respectful manner. Comments included, “You can’t fault their care”, “I have faith in Corcare and feel safe with them” and “We are very satisfied with the service.”

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.

Assessments were carried out to identify any risks to the person using the service and to the staff supporting them. Care plans were personalised to the individual and recorded details about each person’s specific needs and wishes. These were kept under regular review and updated as people’s needs changed.

People were supported to access healthcare services, staff recognised changes in people's health, and sought professional advice appropriately.

The service’s rotas were well organised and there were enough staff available to provide all planned care visits. A mobile phone call monitoring application was used to ensure all visits were provided and to share information securely with staff. No one reported having experienced a missed care visit.

The service had been working with the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust by taking additional packages to help with the increased number of hospital discharges, to assist with winter pressures. During the winter of 2018/19 the service had been provided with agency staff to create additional capacity. At the last inspection we found the way this additional work was being managed had impacted on the service’s overall performance and reliability.

At this inspection we found the service was in the process of managing another group of agency workers to increase the service‘s capacity to accept hospital discharges. We found lessons had been learnt from the previous project and this additional work was being well managed by a dedicated team.

Staff were recruited safely and they received regular supervision and support from management. New staff completed an induction which involved training and a period of shadowing more experienced staff. Training was regularly updated so staff were aware of any changes in working practices.

There was a positive culture in the service and management and staff were committed to ensuring people received a good service. Staff told us they were well supported and had a good working relationship with each other and the management team.

People, their relatives and staff told us management were approachable and they listened to them when they had any concerns or ideas. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to the service.

There were clear processes for management to check the quality of all aspects of the service. The provider had a defined organisational management structure and there was regular oversight and input from senior management.

The full details can be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (report published 14 March 2019) and there was a breach of regulations. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.