Virtuous Health Group

Updated 20 February 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 28 and 29 January 2019 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice that we would be visiting the service. This was because the service provides care to people living in their own homes and we wanted to make sure staff and people using the service would be available to speak with us.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and one 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.

Before this inspection, we asked the registered provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to help with the planning for this inspection and to support our judgements.

Inspection activity started on 28 January 2019 and ended on 29 January 2019. On the first day of our inspection we visited the office location and spoke with the managing director, registered manager and care co-ordinator. We reviewed care records and documents central to people's health and well-being. These included care records relating to four people, recruitment records for four staff members, staff training records and quality audits. We also telephoned and spoke with six people and the relatives of people using the service to obtain feedback on the delivery of care and support. On the 29 January 2019 we telephoned and spoke with four members of staff.

Updated 20 February 2019

The inspection took place on 28 and 29 January 2019 and was announced.

Virtuous Health Group is a domiciliary care agency and also provides 24 hour live in care to people within their own homes.

The service supports people living with dementia, learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, older people, people with an eating disorder, physical disability, sensory impairment and younger adults. The service was not registered to provide nursing care.

At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 11 people.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

Staff understood their role and responsibilities to keep people safe from harm. Staff had received training to deliver care safely and to an appropriate standard.

Staff had a good knowledge of the provider’s whistleblowing policy and procedures which meant they were able to raise concerns to protect people from unsafe care.

People were supported by staff who promoted their independence, respected their dignity and maintained their privacy.

Care plans reflected people's individual needs and preferences and were regularly reviewed to ensure the provider continued to meet people's needs.

Risks to people had been assessed and reviewed regularly to ensure people’s individual needs were being met safely.

Recruitment processes were robust to make sure people were cared for by suitable staff. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs.

Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and their responsibilities to ensure that people who were unable to make their own decisions about their care and support were protected.

There was an effective complaints system in place. People told us they were confident to raise any issues about their care and that they would be listened to and addressed.

People told us the service was well-led and managed by an effective and organised management team.

Systems were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.

This service was registered with the Care Quality Commission in February 2018, this was their first inspection.