Archived: Comfort Call - Maple West

Updated 13 September 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is someone who has experience of using, or caring for someone who uses, similar types of services.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency providing care to people living in an extra care facility. It provides personal care to people living in their own apartments.

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. This was because we wanted to ensure staff and people would be able to speak with us on our office visit and to gain people’s consent.

Inspection activity started and ended on 24 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information we held about the service, including notifications, to plan our inspection. A notification is information about events that by law the registered persons should tell us about. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

We asked Healthwatch for any information they had about the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We also asked the local authority for any feedback. Neither organisation had any information of concern to share.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of care staff as well as the deputy manager, registered manager and operations manager from the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service including audits, questionnaires, meeting minutes and action plans.

Updated 13 September 2019

About the service

Comfort Call – Maple West is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 25 people at the time of the inspection with a range of support needs. These support needs included those living with dementia, learning disabilities, those with mental health needs, people who misuses drugs or alcohol and people who may have a sensory or physical disability.

People lived in a purpose-built building of self-contained apartments. There were facilities on site that anyone who live there could access, such as a restaurant, communal areas, gym and salon.

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.

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

People medicines were not always being managed safely and action taken to reduce the risk of people not receiving their medicines had not always been sufficient, so lessons had not always been learned. People were kept safe from abuse as staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities and plans were in place to mitigate risks to people; action was taken following feedback when there was a lack of information. There enough safely-recruited staff to support people safely, with recruitment ongoing. People were protected from the risk of cross infection as staff used appropriate protective equipment such as gloves and aprons.

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. People had access to other health professionals. Those who required support received this in relation to food and drinks. Staff received training to help them feel confident in their role.

People felt staff were kind and felt they were treated with respect. People were supported to maintain their dignity and be involved in decisions about their care. People were encouraged to remain as independent as possible.

People had personalised plans of care and staff knew people well. People felt able to complain and these were dealt with appropriately. Consideration had been given to people’s end of life preferences, but no one was being supported at the end of their life at the time of the inspection.

Systems were in place and effective at identifying areas to improve the quality of people’s care. Staff felt positively about the registered manager and felt supported in their role. The registered manager was confident in their role and understood their responsibilities. The service engaged with people and staff to ensure feedback was requested to improve the service. The service also worked in partnership to ensure effective outcomes for people. The service continuously learned following incidents or through quality spot checks.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 3 August 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.