Archived: Town and Country Care

Updated 30 April 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 was planned to check 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.

We visited the service on 23 February 2015 and the inspection team consisted of one inspector. The inspection was announced. The registered provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We did this because the manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be available to contribute to the inspection.

During our inspection we went to the registered provider’s office and spoke to the manager, the registered provider and three members of staff. We looked at the care records of eight people who used the service, reviewed the records for five staff and records which related to the management of the service. This included staff training information, staffing levels, health and safety and arrangements for managing complaints. After the inspection visit we telephoned two further members of staff, and spoke with five people who were supported personally by the service.

We reviewed other information that we held about the service such as notifications, which are events which happened in the service that the registered provider is required to tell us about, and information that had been sent to us by other agencies.

We asked the local authority who commissioned services from the registered provider for information in order to get their view on the quality of care provided by the service. We also contacted two health and social care professionals who worked with people supported by the service to obtain their views on the care people received.

Updated 30 April 2015

We undertook an announced inspection of Town and Country Care on 23 February 2015. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming.

This was the first inspection of this service since the provider was registered with the Care Quality Commission in October 2013.

Town and Country Care provide a personal care service to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 80 people were receiving a personal care service.

There was not 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. There was a manager in post and they were in the process of starting the application process to become the registered manager.

The Care Quality Commission is required by law to monitor how a provider applies the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and to report on what we find. The manager and staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and had received appropriate training.

People were kept safe and free from harm. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service. People were supported to take their medicines safely.

Staff were able to accommodate last minute changes to appointments as requested by the person who used the service or their relatives.

Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. Care and support plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported and people were involved in making decisions about their care.

People were supported to eat and drink. Staff liaised with people’s doctors and other healthcare professionals as required.

People and their relatives were able to raise any issues or concerns and action was taken to address them.

The manager and the registered provider were accessible and approachable. Staff, people who used the service and their relatives felt able to speak with the manager and provide feedback on the service.

The manager and the registered provider undertook checks to review the quality of the service provided to people who used the service.