The inspection of Comfort Call – Kirklees took place between 4 January and 21 January 2019. We previously inspected the service in November 2017, we rated the service Requires Improvement. The service was not in breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 regulations at that time.This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. On the day of our inspection 150 people were receiving care and support from Comfort Call – Kirklees.
The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
At the time of the inspection Comfort Call – Kirklees were in the process of reviewing call times and staff rotas. People told us they did not always feel safe. They did not always know when staff would arrive or which care worker would be delivering their care and support.
We found the recruitment of staff was safe. Neither people or staff felt the service was understaffed.
Staff received training and an assessment of their competency to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to administer people’s medicines.
The prevention and control of infection protected people.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.
New staff completed a programme of induction to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to deliver effective care and support. There was an on-going programme of training and support for all staff.
People received appropriate support to enable them to eat and drink.
Staff supported peoples to access other healthcare professionals if they were unwell.
People told us staff were predominantly kind and caring although staff were limited by constraints on their time. Staff we spoke with talked about the people they supported with empathy and professionalism.
People’s privacy, dignity and confidentiality was respected.
People had a care plan in place which was person centred and reflective if their care and support needs. Care records were reviewed at regular intervals.
There was a system in place to manage complaints. We saw evidence complaints were handled appropriately. We have made a recommendation about the method used to gain feedback from people who use the service.
An annual survey conducted in May 2018, evidenced some key areas of concern. Despite an action plan being implemented the feedback we received as part of this inspection evidenced the issues had not been fully addressed.
The registered provider had a number of audits in place to monitor the service and to ensure staff were meeting the requirements of their role. An operations manager visited the service on a regular basis to provide support to the registered manager and office based staff.
People received a regular newsletter providing them with information and regular meetings were held with staff.
This is the second consecutive time the service has been rated Requires Improvement.