Caringhearts Support Services Ltd

Updated 19 May 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

This inspection was completed by one inspector.

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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 the service 48 hours’ 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 14 April 2022 and ended on 3 May 2022. We visited the location’s office on 14 April 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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

The registered manager was the only member of staff working in the office on the day of inspection. They were also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with the registered manager and reviewed two care plans, a number of records relating to medicines, policies and procedures and various quality assurance documents. We also reviewed training compliance and the business continuity plan. After the inspection we spoke with one person and two relatives about their experience of the care. We also spoke with an additional member of staff.

Updated 19 May 2022

About the service

Caringhearts is domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their homes. At the time of our inspection there were four people using the service. 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 by staff who were knowledgeable in their individual risks. Staff supported people well with their medicines, and followed infection control procedures. People always had staff to meet their needs and staff had been recruited safely.

People were supported to maintain a balanced diet. Full assessments were completed and regularly reviewed to ensure people received effective care. Staff received a good level of training and were supported by the registered manager through their induction period.

People were supported by kind and caring staff. Staff respected people’s privacy and encouraged people’s independence.

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.

Staff supported people with their communication needs and to avoid isolation. People were supported to maintain relationships important to them and staff supported people at the end of their lives.

Staff felt supported by the registered manager. Relatives told us how they felt comfortable to raise any concerns or complaints and confirmed they were asked regularly for feedback. Quality audits were completed to ensure a good quality of care was maintained.

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 28 January 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection to provide a formal rating as this location had not been inspected since registration.

Follow up

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