Background to this inspection
Updated
5 July 2019
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team: One inspector carried out this inspection.
Service and service type: Kingswood Care Services provides a domiciliary care service which offers personal care, companionship, and domestic help to support people living in their own home in the community. Eight people were being supported at the time of the inspection.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit because it is a care agency. We needed to be sure someone would be available to speak with and show us records. Inspection site visit activity started on 2 May 2019 and ended on 30 May 2019.
What we did: Prior to the inspection we gathered and reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications we had received. Statutory notifications notify us of deaths and other incidents that occur, which when submitted, enable the Commission to monitor any issues or areas of concern. We reviewed the provider information return (PIR). 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. We took this into account when we made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection we met one person who used the service. We carried out phone calls to two family members and two staff. We visited the office and spoke with the registered manager, service manager, community care coordinator, and a director. We looked at four people's care records to see how they were supported. Other records looked at included three recruitment files to check suitable staff were employed and quality assurance documents.
The registered manager sent us additional information after the office visit as requested which we looked at as part of making a judgement about the service.
Updated
5 July 2019
About the service: Kingswood Care Services provides a domiciliary care service which offers personal care, companionship, and domestic help to support people living in their own home in the community. The support offered ranges from 24-hour care to a few hours per week.
People’s experience of using this service:
There were systems in place to help make sure people were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff were aware of safeguarding procedures and understood how to protect the people they supported.
Risks to people's safety were identified, assessed and action was taken to keep people safe. When people were at risk, staff had access to assessments and understood the actions needed to minimise avoidable harm.
There were enough staff deployed to meet people's needs and all relevant pre-employment checks were undertaken to ensure they were safe to work with people in the community.
Medicines were administered and managed safely by trained and competent staff. Staff had knowledge of safe hygiene practices to support people around infection control.
When there had been incidents, the provider had learnt lessons and put improvements in place.
People were supported by staff who had the necessary skills and knowledge to understand and meet their needs. Staff felt supported and had access to training relevant to their roles.
People were supported to do their shopping, prepare their meals, and eat healthily. People were positively encouraged and supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.
Staff had formed positive caring relationships with people who used the service and their relatives. People remained as independent as possible due to staff knowing people's individual likes and dislikes. Staff were mindful to support people in a way which maintained their dignity and upheld their right to privacy.
Governance arrangements were in place. The registered manager provided clear and direct leadership to staff who had a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. The quality assurance and auditing system contributed to service delivery. However, some monitoring processes needed strengthening.
We made two recommendations for the provider to consider in relation to end of life care and monitoring the quality of the service.
Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection, the service was rated as Good (published 12 October 2016).
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. The service remains Good with a Requires Improvement in well led.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive. We will inspect in line with our inspection programme or sooner if required.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk