10 May 2022
During a routine inspection
Compare Care provides personal care for people in their own homes, most of whom were older people with associated health needs. 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 the service was providing personal care to nine people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Since the last inspection the registered manager and the staff have made improvements which has raised the standard of care people received and the overall governance of the service. The registered manager was reviewing and updating care plans, to ensure they accurately described people’s history, their background, aspirations, goals, likes and dislikes. This is an ongoing area of required improvement.
Since the last inspection, the registered manager had improved their systems to monitor the quality of the services provided. This included conducting weekly and monthly audits checking care plans, monitoring records, medication records and people’s visits. These improvements were yet to be fully embedded and sustained.
People and relatives told us their experience of the service had improved and were positive about their support visits. People and relatives had confidence in the reliability of the service and spoke highly of the care. A relative said, “I have to say that there has been a definite improvement, my relative has a new carer who is lovely. I have sent a letter to the company complimenting this member of staff.”
People felt safe using the service and staff understood what their responsibilities were in relation to keeping people safe. People had risks associated with their health and wellbeing, assessed and managed to ensure they received personal care and support safely. A person said, “I feel safe with the care I am getting.”
Staff administered people's medicines safely and prevented people from the risk of cross infection. The service worked in partnership with people, relatives and other agencies to support people's good health and wellbeing and provide consistent care.
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.
Staff were trained and their competency was checked by the registered manager following an induction into the role to ensure staff had the skills to do their job well and effectively meet people's needs.
Staff received supervision to support them in their role and identify any learning needs and opportunities for professional development. The registered manager carried out spot checks on staff to monitor the quality of the service provided and to seek the views of the people who were supported.
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 inadequate (published 06 January 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
This service has been in Special Measures since 6 January 2022. During this inspection the provider demonstrated that improvements have been made. The service is no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key questions. Therefore, this service is no longer in Special Measures.
Why we inspected
This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.