Continuity of Care Services Limited

Updated 6 December 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 team consisted of 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.

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 24 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 the last inspection and information they 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 9 people who use the service and their relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with 1 professional who arranged a person’s care. We spoke with 3 staff including the registered manager, care staff and office staff. We reviewed a range of records including 3 people’s care records. We looked at 2 staff recruitment records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service including audits.

Updated 6 December 2023

Continuity of Care Services Limited is domiciliary care agency providing personal care. The service provides support to children, younger adults, older people and people with a learning disabilities, autism, physical disability or dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people using the service.

People’s experience of the service and what we found:

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. A relative told us, “I’m finding the carers rewarding for my relative. They do a really first-class job. They’re head and shoulders above other care companies. It’s changed our life”.

‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessment and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: The model of care maximised people’s choice, control and independence. A relatives told us, “The carers promote my loved one’s independence” and “I think I’ve had enough involvement in the care plan”. People were supported to achieve their goals and agreed how to manage any risks with staff.

People were supported by a small number of staff they knew well and trusted. A relative said, “There is a team of the same carers, familiarity is important”. A person told us, “I have a very good relationship with the management. They were the first to come out and introduce me to the company. They also did my care for the first two weeks to get firsthand experience of my care needs”. Staff supported people to take their medicines safely. People were involved in recruiting staff who were of good character and had the skills to meet their needs.

Right Care: Care was person-centred and promoted people’s dignity, privacy and human rights. People told us they felt safe with staff. Staff knew how to identify risks of abuse and were confident to raise any concerns. Infection control risks were managed.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Checks the provider completed had improved the quality of the service. Staff felt supported by the provider who was approachable. Everyone we spoke with told us they would recommend Continuity of Care Services.

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 CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good, published 21 October 2017.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of the last inspection.

Follow Up

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