Background to this inspection
Updated
26 October 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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was completed by 1 inspector.
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 the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.
Inspection activity started on 2 October 2023 and ended on 3 October 2023. We visited the office location on 2 October 2023. The following day we continued to review evidence and spoke with people who used the service and their relatives on the telephone.
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 and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 2 people and the relatives of 5 people. We spoke with the director who was also the registered manager and 5 members of the care staff team. We reviewed a range of records, these included 4 people's care records and medicine records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were looked at. These included; quality and audit checks, training records, policies and procedures and written feedback from people and their relatives.
Updated
26 October 2023
About the service
Unique Homecare Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency, based in Garstang, Lancashire. It provides personal care to people in their own homes in Garstang and the surrounding area.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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 this inspection 50 people were receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Some aspects of staff recruitment were not completely effective at ensuring staff members were always suitable to work with vulnerable people. Some safety checks had not been made. We have made a recommendation about this that can be seen in the 'safe' section of this report.
People received compassionate care from committed and caring staff. People achieved good outcomes as a result of the care they received. Their support and care needs were met.
Staff supported people in person-centred ways to identify their goals and wishes. Although care planning documentation required some improvement to ensure it was completely relevant to people, staff had access to other information that was centred around the person they were supporting.
People and their relatives told us they felt safe as a result of the care they received from staff. Risks had been managed in a positive way to support people to maintain independence and control. Staff had a good understanding of people’s needs and wishes.
The registered manager, office staff and care staff were kind, caring and respectful. People praised how kind and caring they were. People praised the approachability of the registered manager, staff at the office and care staff and could not fault the service.
The provider had invested in the use of a digital care planning system. This was supplemented by hand-held devices staff used to obtain up to date information about people. Relatives said staff were particularly proactive and raised concerns about their loved ones quickly so that issues could be addressed in a timely way. Senior staff appropriately supervised staff and checks were in place to ensure the care and support provided was safe and met the needs of 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 this practice. They and their relatives, had been consulted about care and support needs. These needs were assessed before they started using the service.
The registered manager and staff supported people to have access to healthcare professionals and specialist support and the service worked with external specialists. Professional's views on the service were positive.
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 30 December 2017).
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 until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.