North Tyneside

Updated 2 August 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 6 July 2023 and ended on 12 July 2023. We visited the location’s office on 12 July 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We requested feedback from the local authority and reviewed information we already held about the service.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 members of staff, including the registered manager and care staff. We also spoke with the relatives of both people using the service. We contacted two health and social care professionals.

During our visit we looked at care records, medication records, staff recruitment records, supervision and competence documentation, training records, and the policies and procedures used by the provider.

Updated 2 August 2023

About the service

North Tyneside is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their homes. There were 2 people receiving personal care at the time of the inspection.

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

Audits and checking systems needed improving to ensure they analysed and reflected on incidents. We have made a recommendation about this.

Staff responded promptly to incidents and accidents and reported them appropriately. The registered manager carried out spot checks to observe staff practice.

Risks to people were assessed but assessments would benefit from more person-centred detail. The registered manager responded immediately when we raised this.

People received consistent person-centred care from staff who knew them well. Feedback from relatives and external agencies was positive.

The service was very small and the registered manager was able to provide hands-on support to staff when needed and retain an appropriate level of oversight. They planned further delegation and staff roles as the organisation grew.

Staff received a blend of online and in person training and had the skills to support people safely. They were knowledgeable about people’s varied needs.

The registered manager involved people who used the service and their relatives through regular care plan reviews and surveys.

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.

The registered manager was approachable and committed to the ongoing improvement of the service.

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 requires improvement (report published 5 August 2021).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and the time that had passed since our last inspection.

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 improved to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for North Tyneside 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.