Barclay Specialist Care Ltd

Updated 4 July 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

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 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

Barclays Specialist Care is a domiciliary care agency and a community healthcare service. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 24 May 2023 and ended on 26 May 2023. We visited the location’s office on 24 May 2023.

What we did before the inspection

In planning our inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service. This included any notifications (events which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about) and any feedback about 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.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 7 people using the service and 8 relatives. We spoke with 5 staff that included the director, operations manager, clinical lead, care coordinator and office manager. We also spoke with the nominated individual who is also the registered manager. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We sent emails to 60 staff members for feedback, and we received 21 responses.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 peoples care records and risk assessments. We looked at staff recruitment checks and a variety of records relating to the management of the service including staff training and supervision records, quality assurance information and feedback from people and staff.

Updated 4 July 2023

About the service

Barclay Specialist Care is a domiciliary care agency and a community healthcare service. It is a national complex care provider based in Corby, Northamptonshire, offering personalised packages of care to adults and children via a continuing healthcare or personal health budget.

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. At the time of this inspection 16 people were receiving support with personal care.

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 provided care and support for 4 people with a learning disability or autism. We assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found.

Right Support

Staff supported people to have full choice, control, and independence over their lives There were comprehensive systems in place to make sure the service was safe. People were empowered to take positive risks, to ensure they had greater choice and control of their lives. The positive risk-taking approach showed staff respected people's right for independence and their right to take risks.

People were fully involved and supported to recruit staff and were able to choose the staff who they wanted to care for them. This ensured that successful applicants had the right values and skills to match the values that were at the heart of the service.

Training was developed around each individual to ensure staff had an excellent understanding of people's needs and how to meet them. People's health and well-being were paramount. Staff liaised with health and social care professionals to ensure excellent outcomes for people.

Right Care

We received some exceptional feedback about the service. Comments from people who used the service and relatives were very complimentary and consistent stating they were extremely happy with the care, treatment and support the service provided.

People's dignity and human rights were fully promoted, and people were encouraged to make decisions about their day-to-day routines. Staff fully understood and responded to people's individual needs in a person-centred way.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and potential harm. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

People received care that focused on their quality of life and followed best practice, with input from a range of health and social care professionals.

Right Culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff team. Staff were very caring and knowledgeable about how best to communicate with people and to advocate for them to ensure their views were heard. There was a strong culture within the service of treating people with dignity and respect.

There was strong leadership which put people first and set high expectations for staff. They were proud to work for the service and felt valued for their work. A positive culture was demonstrated by the attitudes of staff and management when we talked with them about how they supported people.

Relatives told us they were fully involved in their family members care and support and they spoke of the open culture, and regular contact and visits to see their family members. Staff placed people's wishes, needs, and rights at the heart of everything they did.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Good (published 27 November 2018)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.