Background to this inspection
Updated
1 April 2020
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
The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
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 the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection as we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 3 March 2020 and ended on 4 March 2020. We visited the office
location on 4 March 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We checked the information we held about the service and the provider. This included notifications the provider had sent to us about incidents at the service. A notification is information about events that by law the registered persons should tell us about. 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 in making our judgements in this report. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
During our inspection we spoke with eight people who used the service and three relatives. We also spoke with three members of care staff, the deputy manager and the registered manager to check that standards of care were being met.
We looked at care records for ten people. We checked the care they received matched the information in their records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service, including audits carried out to ensure people received a good service.
After the inspection
The provider sent us some further information to support their inspection.
Updated
1 April 2020
About the service
The provider is registered with us to provide personal care and support for people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection visit, they were supporting 114 people. 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.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
Although there was some monitoring around the governance and the quality of the service, as formal audits were not always completed, we could not be assured this was always effective in identifying areas for improvements.
People and relatives spoke positively about the company. The provider sought feedback from people and relatives who used the service, and this was used to make changes. There was a complaints procedure in place and people and relatives felt able to complaint. Staff felt supported and listened to and felt able to raise concerns if needed.
People and relatives were happy with the support they received from staff who they found kind and caring. People were encouraged to be independent, make choices and were supported with privacy and in a dignified way. They felt involved with their care.
Medicines were managed in a safe way. Risks to people were considered and reviewed. There were enough suitably trained staff to offer support to people. Infection control procedures were followed. Lessons were learnt when thing went wrong. There were safeguarding procedures in place that were followed and understood by staff.
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 support this practice. People had access to health professionals when needed. They were supported at mealtimes accordingly. People received care based on their assessed needs and their preferences were taken in to account. People had the opportunity to participate in pastimes they enjoyed.
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. (Published 9 August 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.