Background to this inspection
Updated
6 August 2015
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 was an announced inspection and took place on 29 and 30 June, and 6 July 2015. Forty-eight hours’ notice of the inspection was given because the service is a domiciliary care agency and the manager is often out of the office attending meetings and visiting people receiving services. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
In June 2014, our inspection found that the service met the regulations we inspected against.
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors. Before the inspection, we checked notifications made to us by the provider, safeguarding alerts raised regarding people using the service and information we held on our database about the service and provider. We contacted the local authority commissioning department for information about the service delivery.
There were 58 people receiving a service at the time we inspected. During the inspection, we spoke with fifteen people using the service and five relatives. We visited two people with their permission in their own homes.
During our visit we looked at copies of eight care plans. Information in the records we looked at included needs assessments, risk assessments, feedback from people using the service. We interviewed eight care workers, a field supervisor, the care coordinator and the registered manager. We examined staff recruitment procedures and looked at personnel files for six staff members; we looked at records of staff training and supervision.
Updated
6 August 2015
Immaculate Healthcare Limited is a domiciliary care agency which provides care and support to enable people remain independent in their own homes in the London Borough of Croydon.
There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.
We last inspected Immaculate Healthcare Services Limited in June 2014. At that inspection we found the service was meeting all the regulations that we assessed.
People spoke positively about the service provided, and found there were sustained improvements in how this was delivered in the past twelve months. They told us that they usually had regular care staff who were familiar to them, and that this was important to them. They told us they were able to build up a trusting relationship with staff.
People were kept safe and free from harm. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and to provide a flexible service. Staffing numbers were able to respond flexibly to accommodate last minute changes to appointments as requested by the person who used the service or their relatives.
People’s needs were assessed, and care plans and risk assessments were completed with everyone who was receiving a service, and this ensured people had their needs were met and helped protect them from the risk of harm.
People said they were involved in their care planning and were happy to express their views or raise concerns. When people’s needs changed, staff promptly identified this and addressed it appropriately through updated care plans and revised care arrangements. Staff took appropriate action to ensure people’s well-being was protected.
People told us that staff sought their consent before they provided care. The registered manager and staff all had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and care records reflected this.
Care staff received training and support through induction, and a programme of training, supervision and appraisal. Staff assigned to care for people in their own homes understood the support that people needed and were given sufficient time to provide the service needed in a safe and dignified way.
People were asked for their views on the service provided, there were systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of care provided and drive improvements in the service.
Staff completed daily records in people’s homes to record what care treatment and support had been provided. People found that care staff listened to them, acted on what they said, delivered support in a way they liked and a time to suit them.
The service had quality assurance processes in place which helped drive improvements in the service. Checks were carried out to people’s homes to make sure care staff were working in accordance with people’s plan of care and to make sure people received the care they required.