Background to this inspection
Updated
16 October 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.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses.
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
This inspection was announced.
We gave a short period notice of the inspection because this is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 10 September 2019 and ended on 17 September 2019. We visited the office location on 10 September 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. 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 inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We were unable to speak with the person using the service, but we spoke with their relative and two staff who supported them. We also spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included the person’s care records and medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment, and a variety of records relating to the management of the service.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification form the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We contacted four health and social care professionals to seek their feedback on the service.
Updated
16 October 2019
About the service
Match Options is a small domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection only one person received a service. The provider also had an employment agency providing staff to the health and social care sector. This however was separate to the domiciliary care agency and not looked at as part of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Medicines were being administered safely in practice, but the recording of medicines was not always appropriate. Risks to the person supported had been identified and recorded in a risk management plan. However, the level of detail recorded was not always sufficient to safely manage the risks. Sufficient levels of staff were employed, and safe recruitment checks had been applied.
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; however, the policies and systems in the service did not support this practice. A recommendation has been made for the provider to address this.
Staff were able to attend relevant training and received supervision to monitor their ongoing practice. Positive comments were made about the caring and kind nature of staff and the support they provided. Staff encouraged people to be involved in their care and supported people in the way they chose.
Care plans were detailed about people’s preferred routines. Staff supported people to attend activities of their choosing. The complaints process was readily available for people; however, no complaints had been received.
The service was felt to be well-led. The registered manager encouraged transparency and regularly sought feedback on the staff and care provided. Quality monitoring systems were in place to identify any actions that needed to be addressed.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was Good (report published 15 March 2017).
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.