Carestream Home Care

Updated 1 March 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out the inspection and an Expert by Experience made phone calls to people using the service and their relatives.

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 two working days’ 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.

Inspection activity started on 3 February 2022 and ended on 8 February 2022. We visited the office location on 3 February 2022.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the service had registered. 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 the interim manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and two people’s medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including safeguarding records, quality assurance records and complaints were looked at.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with two people who used the service, two relatives and three care staff members.

Updated 1 March 2022

About the service

Carestrean Home Care is a domiciliary Care service visiting people needing help with personal care in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting nine people.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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 were kept safe from abuse and harm, and staff knew how to report any suspicions concerning abuse. The service had systems to report and investigate concerns.

Risk assessments identified how potential risks should be managed to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing harm. Staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care in accordance with people's support plans. There were enough staff to keep people safe and meet their needs. Robust recruitment processes aimed to ensure only suitable staff were selected to work with people.

Each staff member had received induction and training to enable them to meet people's needs effectively. We saw that supervision meetings for staff were held regularly and staff felt supported by the management to perform 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.

People's care plans were person-centred and focused on what was important to people. Care plans were regularly reviewed, and people and their relatives were involved in the reviews. People felt they were treated with kindness and said their privacy and dignity were always respected.

The registered manager and staff demonstrated a commitment to people and displayed strong person-centred values. People's choices were respected, and staff supported them to achieve good outcomes. Audit systems were in place to monitor the standard of support people received. Measures to assess improvements and continuous learning were in place.

The service worked in partnership with other health and social care organisations to achieve better

outcomes for people using 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:

This service was registered with us on 21/02/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as this new service had been registered since 2020.

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.