11 November 2020
During an inspection looking at part of the service
Starcare Limited is a domiciliary care service. At the time of the inspection 262 people received support from the service, with 261 of those receiving personal care. The CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to 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
Some people told us they did not always know which staff would be attending, if the call was going to be late and said they did not have a regular carer. The registered manager explained that factors such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had, at times, impacted on staff absence which in turn had affected call times on occassion. We have made a recommendation that the registered provider reviews systems in place, to ensure there is a consistent approach and that audit systems include assessment of consistency of staff.
Quality assurance systems had been improved since the last inspection and were, overall, effective. However, medicines audits had not always identified issues noted within the inspection. The registered manager took immediate action to address this.
People received their medicines from trained and competent staff. Procedures were in place to protect people from abuse and people told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Staff were aware of the procedures to follow to prevent and control the spread of infection and received specific guidance about the COVID-19 pandemic. Risks associated with individual’s needs were assessed and regularly reviewed with measures in place to mitigate these. Recruitment procedures were safe.
People were treated with dignity and respect. People told us that staff were “kind” and “polite.”
Each person had a personalised care plan which was detailed, person-centred and included assessment of people’s specific communication needs. We saw that people had been involved in planning their support. People were aware of who to contact if they had any concerns.
People and relatives were positive about the culture of the service and staff. Staff felt supported in their roles. There were opportunities for people to provide their views of the service they received.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 7 June 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. At this inspection we found sufficient improvement had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 7 June 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve staffing, person-centred care, governance and informing CQC about significant events as required.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Caring, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Starcare Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.