We Care Chorlton

Updated 9 July 2021

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

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 houses. 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

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 29 April 2021 and ended on 10 May 2021. We visited the office location on 29 April 2021.

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. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager and a support worker. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and care notes. 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 policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at additional policies and quality assurance records.

Updated 9 July 2021

About the service

Northstar Home Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection the agency were supporting four people with aspects of personal care. This included help with tasks related to personal hygiene and food preparation.

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

Comprehensive risk assessments were completed by the provider to enable staff to support people safely. Care plans were person centred and recorded what a good day and a bad day was for the individual. People were supported by a regular staff team.

The provider and registered manager kept in regular contact with people using the service to gain their views. The provider had implemented a new monitoring system which gave them clear oversight of the service.

The provider had implemented a COVID-19 satisfaction survey. This gave the provider insight into how people were feeling during the pandemic and feedback on the support they had received.

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.

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 at the previous location was requires improvement (published 19 September 2019). There were multiple breaches identified. The breaches from the inspection were followed up by a targeted inspection (published 23 September 2020). At the last inspection improvements had been made however there remained breaches in regulation 17 and regulation 19. 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 undertook this focused inspection to check the provider 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 and well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. 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 Northstar Home Care Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.