CareUK Living Limited

Updated 18 March 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by 1 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.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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.

Inspection activity started on 06 March 2023 and ended on 13 March 2023. We visited the location’s office on 06 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 7 members of staff including the registered manager, director and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 2 people’s care records. We looked at 3 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 reviewed.

Updated 18 March 2023

About the service

CareUK Living is a domiciliary care agency. They provide personal care to people and children living in their own homes. 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 the inspection 9 people were receiving personal care.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

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

Right Support:

Improvements were required to ensure safe recruitment procedures were consistently followed. However, staff received an induction, completed training and shadowed experienced staff before lone working with people.

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 his practice.

Staff supported people in a person-centred way. Staff understood people’s communication needs and adapted how they communicated with people to ensure information could be understood.

People and their relatives knew which staff were coming to each support call. We were told staff turned up on time, stayed the allocated amount of time and supported people and their families in a flexible, responsive way.

Right Care:

People were supported by staff who knew them well and treated them with dignity and respect. Staff supported people to learn new skills and promoted their independence.

People were protected from potential abuse by staff who complete safeguarding training and understood the signs and symptoms of abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

Care plans contained up to date, detailed information about the person. Staff had time to read care plans and people and relatives were involved in sharing information to ensure staff understood the person’s needs.

Relatives were extremely complimentary about the service and the staff. Staff were described as kind, friendly, supportive, professional, gentle and compassionate.

Right Culture:

Improvements were required to ensure systems and processes to assess and monitor the service were in place and effective.

Staff felt respected and supported within their roles and were able to raise any concerns they may have. Information was shared with staff to make improvements to the service.

Relatives were kept up to date on any changes, accidents or incidents that may occur. People and relatives were involved in the care planning and support offered.

The registered manager had a clear vision for the direction of the service that demonstrated ambition and a desire for people to achieve the best outcomes possible. The registered manager set a culture that valued reflection, learning and improvement. They were receptive to challenge and welcomed fresh perspectives.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 15 October 2021 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.