Care 1st Homecare

Updated 21 July 2021

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 team consisted of one inspector, one assistant inspector and two, Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Both of our Experts by Experience had experience caring for people in their own home.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

During the inspection

We spoke with 14 people about the service. This was a mixture of people who used the service and relatives. This was to find out their experience of the care provided.

We spoke with eight members of staff including one of the providers who is the registered manager, the care manager who takes day to day shared responsibility for the running of the service with the registered manager/ provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 21 July 2021

About the service

Care 1st is a home care service providing personal care and support to people in their own home. 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. At the time of our inspection there were around 110 people being supported with personal care needs.

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

People told us they were happy with the care they received. The provider and care manager oversaw a good quality service which was safe, and well led. Some people and relatives told us communication between them, and the office had been “poor” and “inconsistent “in the last few months. People said this had been frustrating. The provider had identified this shortfall in the way the service was managed. A day to day care manager had been recruited with a key remit to improve communication between the office and people and their relatives. Some people told us communication had improved significantly since the new care manager had been working at the service.

People were supported by enough staff to meet their needs. People told us they were supported by staff, who generally understood their needs well.

Staff received appropriate training and support to ensure people were safeguarded against the risks of abuse and avoidable harm. Risks associated with people's care were assessed and effectively minimised.

Overall, the service was well led. Shortfalls were identified and acted upon. The provider was open and transparent in their approach. There were also effective quality checking systems in place. These included an independent external quality assessor. This showed the provider was committed to ensuring there was an objective overview of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The service was rated Good (report published December 2019).

Why we inspected

We had received some allegations of concern around how the service was run. Specifically there had ben some concerns raised around medicines management, visit times and communication from the office.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns.

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.