Love In Care

Updated 30 January 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. 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This person was also the provider. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we needed to make sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 4 December 2019 when we spoke on the telephone with relatives of people who used the service and staff. We visited the office location on 18 December 2019 and reviewed additional information sent to us to support the inspection process on 5 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and safeguarding team. The provider completed a provider information return prior to this inspection. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke on the telephone with five family members of people who used the service about their experiences of the care provided. None of the people using the service were able to engage in a telephone conversation with us. We spoke with four staff including support workers and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records which included three people's care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We looked at other records relating to the management of the service, such as training records, meeting notes, audits and survey results.

After the inspection

We reviewed additional information including audits sent to us by the provider.

Updated 30 January 2020

About the service

Love in Care is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people in their own homes. The service was providing personal care to 11 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

All the family members we spoke with felt their relatives were safe when receiving care and support. Risks to people’s health and welfare were assessed but some improvements were needed to ensure a robust approach. People received their medicines safely.

Staff were recruited safely and followed an induction and training programme. Family members felt staff were well trained to provide the support their relative needed.

All of the family members were spoke with were complimentary of the care and support their relative received. People said they had “complete trust” in staff. Family members commented very positively about the respect staff showed their relatives and how they maintained their dignity.

Family members said they were “completely” involved in the development and review of their relative’s care plans to make sure care and support was delivered as they needed and as they preferred.

Care plans were person-centred and included information about what staff needed to do to make sure people’s diverse and cultural needs were met.

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.

Staff were responsive to people’s health needs and liaised with healthcare professionals as needed.

Family members appreciated the flexible support their relatives received to enable them to enjoy social events and maintain relationships.

There were systems in place to monitor quality and equip the provider with a robust overview of performance.

Family members and staff gave very positive feedback about the registered manager. Family members said the registered manager welcomed their views and was always responsive.

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 requires improvement (Published 7 December 2018) and there was a breach of regulation 17. At this inspection sufficient improvement had been made, and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation 17.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.