Wise Home Care Services

Updated 1 December 2022

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.

This was a focused inspection to check whether the provider had met the requirements of the Warning Notice in relation to Regulation 17 (Good governance) and Regulation 18 (Staffing) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 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

This inspection was announced.

We gave the service a short period 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.

Inspection activity started on 05 October 2022 and ended on 07 October 2022. We visited the location’s office 06 October 2022.

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 (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

During the inspection we spoke with 4 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager and 3 care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 1 December 2022

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

At the time of the inspection, the location did not support anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

About the service

Wise Home Care Services Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to people in their own home. People receiving a service included those with dementia, mental health and physical disabilities. There were 3 people receiving care and support at the time of the inspection.

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

Right Support

People's needs, preferences and wishes were met by a dedicated care staff team who knew the people they cared for well. People were supported in a way which promoted safety. Risk assessments were in place and reflected people's current needs.

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.

Right Care

People were protected from the risks of harm, abuse or discrimination because care staff knew what actions they should take if they identified concerns. There were enough staff, who had been safely recruited, working to provide the support people needed, at times of their choice. People received kind and compassionate care. Care staff protected and respected people's privacy and dignity and understood and responded to people's individual needs.

Right Culture

The registered manager and staff promoted a caring culture, where providing person centred care was the focus of the service. Staff turnover was low, which supported people to receive consistent care from staff who knew them well. People were asked to provide feedback on the care provided and they had confidence in the registered manager to deal with concerns appropriately. Care staff felt supported in their roles and were provided with the opportunity to discuss any issues which they may have in an open and inclusive way.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 11 June 2021). Breaches of legal requirements were found.

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 29 April 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, person centred care and good governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wise Home Care Services Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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