151 Chatteris Avenue

Updated 25 September 2021

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 carried out by one 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.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and a care co-ordinator about how the service was managed. Both provided us with the information we requested as part of the inspection.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medicine records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

The Expert by Experience spoke by telephone with one person using the service and four relatives. We also spoke by telephone with five care staff. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, quality assurance records and staff meeting minutes.

Updated 25 September 2021

151 Chatteris Avenue is a domiciliary care agency that is registered to provide personal care to people with a range of needs including older people, people with dementia and people with mental health needs, a learning disability or a physical disability. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 17 people. 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.

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

People felt safe in the service. Risks to people were assessed and policies and procedures such as safeguarding, complaints and whistleblowing were in place. Staff involved people in their care by encouraging and supporting them to make their own decisions and by having policies and systems in place that supported the least restrictive way possible of providing care.

People’s needs were assessed before they started using the service. Each person had a care plan which detailed their needs and gave staff guidance on how to provide safe care. Staff treated people with respect and ensured their privacy was maintained. People were supported to eat and drink, and to have access to health care.

There was a safe staff recruitment process in place. New staff received induction before they started work and were supported by the management through supervision and ongoing training. The service had enough staff which meant there was a consistency of care provided by the service.

There was safe management of medicines. Systems were in place for recording, reviewing and putting remedial action in place when incidents and accidents occurred. Staff worked with other health and social care agencies to ensure people received effective care.

People, relatives and professionals were satisfied with how the service was managed. They gave positive feedback about the registered manager. The registered manager audited various aspects of the service and sought feedback from stakeholders as part of the service's endeavour to make improvements. The provider had a plan to further develop the service.

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 19/03/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had never been inspected before.

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.

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