St Katherine's Care Ltd

Updated 2 May 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

St Katherine’s Care Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support for adults living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support for 33 people. The service covered Lincolnshire.

The provider and manager were registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the registered manager 48hours’ notice because they are sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. The office inspection took place on 6 and 15 February 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection we examined the information we held about the service. This included notifications of incidents that the registered manager had sent us since our last inspection. These are events that happened in the service that the registered manager are required to tell us about. We also invited feedback from the commissioning bodies who contributed to purchasing some of the care provided by the service. We did this so that they could tell us their views about how well the service was meeting people’s needs and wishes.

We spoke with five people using the service and two relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, the care coordinator and three care staff. In addition, we looked at the care plans of four people who used the service and any associated daily records such as the daily log and medicine administration records (MARs). We looked at three staff files as well as a range of records relating to the running of the service such as duration of care calls, staffing, quality audits and training records.

Updated 2 May 2019

About the service:

St Katherine’s Care Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support for adults living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support for 33 people. The service covered the Lincolnshire area.

People’s experience of using this service:

•People and their relatives were very satisfied with all aspects of the service provided and spoke highly of care staff, office staff and the registered manager.

•People who used the service told us they were treated with compassion and kindness and that their privacy and dignity were respected.

•People received their medicines safely and records checked confirmed staff had their medicine administration competency assessed. Handwritten medicine administration records were not signed by two staff to confirm they matched people’s prescribed medicines. We made a recommendation about medicines management.

•Safe recruitment procedures were followed and appropriate pre-employment checks were made. There had been occasions where only one reference check had been requested. We made a recommendation about staff recruitment.

•Risks to people’s safety had been assessed so they were supported to stay safe while their freedom was respected.

•Staff had received training in keeping people safe. There were systems and processes to safeguard people from situations in which they may experience abuse including physical harm.

•Care files required more detail to make them person centred and were reviewed when required.

•Staff had received all the training required to support people safely and received regular supervision and annual appraisals.

•People were protected by there being arrangements to prevent and control infection. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their nutritional needs.

•People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

•People had been supported to live healthier lives by being supported to have suitable access to healthcare services so that they received on-going healthcare support.

•The service regularly visited people in their homes and sought feedback about the service they received.

•One complaint had been received in the last 12 months and this had been responded to appropriately. People had access to information about lay advocates if necessary.

•Alongside the care staff, the office team and registered manager also delivered care calls.

•Good team work was promoted and care staff were supported to speak out if they had any concerns about people not being treated in the right way. Staff were clear about the vision and values of the service. In addition, the registered manager worked in partnership with other care providers to support the development of joined-up care.

More information is available in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection of the service since they registered with us in May 2017.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the date of registration of the service.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.