Care 4 U Care Limited

Care 4 U Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people 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, the service provided personal care to 27 people.

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

People's risks were assessed and reviewed. We made a recommendation about medicines and training.

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.

Governance systems were not effective and needed strengthening and embedding into practice. There was a positive culture throughout the service, people and families felt safe and were happy with the support provided to them. Feedback was gathered from people, staff, and relatives to help identify where improvements or changes needed to be made. The provider did not understand their legal responsibilities and what to do when things went wrong.

People were supported by staff that knew them well and were kind and caring in their approach. Relatives said they were happy with the care people received and had confidence in the registered manager.

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 25 October 2017)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this information. Please see the well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Care 4 U Care Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to management and oversight at this inspection. We have made two recommendations about medicines and training.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.

Care 4 U Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency who provides personal care to people who live in their own homes. At the time of our visit the provider was supporting approximately 60 people. The office is situated in the Manvers area close to Wath-Upon-Dearne.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons.’ Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The management team worked together to ensure care packages were completed as agreed and that staff were supported to do this. The registered provider had systems in place to monitor the service although these were not always documented effectively.

The management team listened to people who used the service, their relatives and staff to gain feedback about the service provided.

The service had a procedure in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Staff we spoke with could explain what they would do if they suspected abuse.

Risks associated with people’s care had been identified and plans put in place to reduce any hazards and minimise the risk from occurring.

The registered provider had a system in place to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff told us they received training in this subject and the management team ensured they were competent to administer medicines.

The service had a safe recruitment system in place. This enabled the provider to select staff that were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Staff received an induction which included mandatory training and shadowing experienced care workers.

We saw that staff received training and support which gave them the skills and knowledge to complete their role well. Records of training attended were maintained and updated when staff completed training. Staff spoke highly of the support they received from the management team.

We spoke with people who used the service and they told us the care workers always asked their consent prior to completing care tasks. Where people lacked capacity, their representatives were involved in making decisions in the person’s best interest. However, this information was not documented.

Some people required support to ensure they received adequate nutrition. Staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and told us they left drinks and snacks for people where required.

Staff told us that they would seek the guidance of healthcare professionals as required. They told us they would speak with people’s families and inform the management team if they had any concerns about anyone’s health.

During our inspection we visited people who used the service and spoke with some people over the telephone. People told us the staff were very kind, caring, thoughtful and respectful. We spoke with staff who knew how to maintain people’s privacy and dignity.

People who used the service and their relatives were aware of the registered provider’s complaints procedure. Some people told us that they had raised concerns and that they had been taken seriously and addressed swiftly.

Prior to people using the service, a member of the management team visited people to complete an initial assessment. This information formed the care plan. We looked at people’s care records and found they reflected people’s current needs.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

People also told us that staff treated them with respect, listened to them, gave them choices, made them feel safe and supported them. One person we spoke with said, 'The staff are excellent they are very professional and make me feel comfortable.'

We also found systems were in place to reduce the risk and spread of infection.

There was an effective recruitment and selection process in place. Although some information was not available at the time of our visit, this has since been supplied by the provider. Staff received appropriate professional development.

We found people were protected from unsafe or inappropriate care by means of accurate records in relation to the care and treatment provided. People told us they were involved in the development of the care plans and their choices were taken into consideration.