Clarity Homecare Essex

Updated 26 February 2019

The inspection:

• We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, 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 team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type:

• Clarity Homecare Essex is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community.

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

Notice of inspection:

• Our inspection was announced.

• The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

• Our inspection process commenced on 12 February 2019 and concluded on 12 February 2019. It included visiting the service's office and telephoning relatives of the people who used the service. We visited the office location on 12 February 2019 to see the registered manager and office staff, and to review care records and policies and procedures. We telephoned three relatives of the people who used the service during the inspection on 12 February 2019.

What we did:

• Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public and the local authority. We checked records held by Companies House.

• The provider had completed a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

• We spoke with three relatives of the people who used the service. We tried to speak to people who used the service however due to communication difficulties they were unable to provide us feedback.

• We spoke with the registered manager, the nominated individual, and two care workers. A nominated individual is someone who has been nominated by the provider and has responsibility for supervising the management of the regulated activity provided.

• We reviewed two people's care records, two staff personnel files, staff training documents, and other records about the management of the service.

• We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. This was received and the information was used as part of our inspection.

Updated 26 February 2019

About the service:

• Clarity Homecare Essex is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, younger adults, people with physical disabilities, mental health needs, sensory impairments, learning disabilities and dementia.

• The provider had one domiciliary care agency within their registration.

• At the time of the inspection it was providing a service to three people.

• For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

People’s experience of using this service:

• People were protected against avoidable harm, abuse, neglect and discrimination. The care they received was safe.

• People's risks were assessed and strategies put in place to reduce the risks.

• People's likes, preferences and dislikes were assessed and care packages met people's desired expectations.

• 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.

• Relatives provided consistently positive feedback about the care, staff and management. They said the service was caring, timely, effective and well-led.

• People's care was person-centred. The care was designed to ensure people's independence was encouraged and maintained.

• People and their relatives were involved in the care planning and review of their care.

• The service had a stable management structure. The provider had implemented systems to ensure they continuously measured the safety of people's care and quality of the service.

Rating at last inspection:

• This was the service’s first inspection.

Why we inspected:

• This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

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.