Background to this inspection
Updated
20 May 2022
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert 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.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it 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.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration with CQC. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with seven people and relatives via telephone about their experience of the care provided. We visited the provider’s office on 4 May 2022 to speak with the registered manager and review records, policies, audits and care plans. We spoke to four staff via telephone on 29 April 2022.
Updated
20 May 2022
About the service
The service is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care services to people living in their own home. There were seven people using the service at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they were happy with the care they received. They told us that they had a consistent service, at planned times with staff they were familiar with.
People told us that care was in line with their needs and that they were asked to contribute towards the planning and reviewing of their care arrangements.
People’s care plans were individualised and reflected their preferred routines around personal care and measures to reduce any risks related to the delivery of care.
People gave positive feedback about the management of the service. The registered manager was a very visible presence, who understood people’s needs, responded positively to complaints and communicated effectively with people, relatives, professionals and staff.
There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of care. This included systems to monitor care call times, durations, records of medicines administration and care notes. The registered manager had a good oversight of the service and understood their regulatory requirements.
People told us staff were caring and friendly. They said they were respectful, treated them with dignity and worked to promote their independence.
Staff were positive about working for the provider, telling us they received appropriate training and good support in their role.
There were enough staff in place to meet people’s needs. The registered manager had taken a responsible approach to increasing the size of the service to ensure this could be done safely.
Staff recruited were subject to appropriate pre-employment checks and there was a structured induction into their role, which helped to promote good quality care.
The provider had systems in place to protect people from the risk of suffering abuse or coming to avoidable harm. The registered manager had a good understanding of how to appropriately respond to risks or concerns about people’s welfare.
There were systems in place to ensure that any learning from incidents was shared with staff to promote improvement.
Staff had received training in infection control and understood the steps needed to maintain good practice in cleanliness and hygiene.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 3 February 2020 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.