Southampton

Updated 30 September 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.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of an 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 home.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period of notice of the inspection so people could consent to take part in the inspection by giving us feedback by phone.

Inspection activity started on 19 July 2022 and ended on 3 September 2022. We visited the location’s office on 31 August 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration with CQC. 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 sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people and two relatives who used the service and family members. We spoke with the registered manager and the managing director. We reviewed records relating to people’s care and the running of the service. These included care records for three people and one staff recruitment file. We reviewed the provider’s policies and procedures, quality assurance records and incident records.

Updated 30 September 2022

About the service

Tailor Care (Southampton) is a home care service providing personal care to people in their own home. The service provides support to people with a range of personal care needs. At the time of our inspection there were five people using the service who received personal care services.

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

The provider had been careful in growing the size of the business, concentrating on supporting a small amount of people in the local area. The provider had chosen to keep the size of the service small to help promote safety and quality. The registered manager and managing director were heavily involved in the day to day running of the service, including carrying out a significant percentage of care calls commissioned. There were effective systems to oversee the quality of care and the provider was committed to seeking ways to improve the service through the introduction of technology.

People told us they were happy with the care they received. They told us they received a consistent, good quality service, which was in line with their needs. They told us staff were caring and friendly and management were visible and accessible. Care plans clearly set out what people’s abilities were and gave instructions to staff about how to promote people’s independence, treat them with dignity and ensure they felt respected.

The provider was flexible in responding to people’s changing needs, involving them in the planning and reviewing of their care. Care plans detailed people’s needs in relation to personal care, medicines administration and healthcare, which helped to make it clear what support was needed in each of these areas. There were appropriate systems in place to gain feedback about people’s care and to manage any concerns or complaints received.

People received care and support that was effective. At the time of inspection, the provider had very few active care staff. However, there were arrangements in place to ensure staff had appropriate training and support in their role. 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 provider had systems in place to protect people from the risk of suffering abuse or coming to avoidable harm. The registered manager had a good understanding of how to appropriately respond to risks or concerns about people’s welfare. There were systems in place to ensure any learning from incidents was shared with staff to promote improvement.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 21 November 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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