Background to this inspection
Updated
1 March 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 was carried out 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 and specialist housing.
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 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 16 January 2023 and ended on 1 February 2023. We visited the location’s office on 16 January 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received 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 to the registered manager, director and person responsible for recruiting and auditing. We spoke with 4 members of care staff, 2 people who used the service and 2 relatives. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and records relating to the management of the service.
Updated
1 March 2023
About the service
Umbrella Healthcare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care support to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to younger people, older people and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 7 people using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe with care staff. Relatives trusted care staff who provided care to their family member.
Staff knew how to identify and report allegations of abuse and knew how to whistleblow where they felt their concerns were not being responded to appropriately.
Risk was monitored and reviewed regularly. Staff observed people in their home for any new risks and reported any changes to the management team promptly. Staff knew how to respond in an emergency and stayed with people to reassure them in the event of an emergency.
People were supported to receive their medicines on time and safely. People were protected from the risks of acquiring an infection.
Staff were recruited to the service safely and there were enough staff to provide care to people. People were pleased they had a consistent staff team provide care to them as helped with continuity of care.
Systems were in place to learn from accidents and incidents.
People received an assessment of need before care began and people and their relatives were involved in this process.
Staff were trained to ensure they were confident to provide care and support in the community. A programme of ongoing training was planned for staff and staff were encouraged to develop further in the role. Supervisions were taking place and staff found them useful to be able to speak to management about how they felt at work.
Consent to care was asked by staff before they provided any aspect of care and people confirmed this.
People were respected by staff and had built good bonds with their carers. Staff treated people with compassion and spoke with respect about the people they supported.
The service did not tolerate any discrimination and people from different backgrounds were welcomed. People’s privacy and dignity was respected by staff and staff maintained confidentiality.
Care was personal to people and people were regularly asked if there was anything else they needed from care. People knew how to make a complaint if they wished. No one currently required end of life support.
People and staff liked the management team and felt they were accessible whenever they needed them. Staff told us they enjoyed working with people and enjoyed helping them with the support of the management team. Feedback was requested from people, their relatives and staff, and the provider used this to improve the service.
We made a recommendation about records management.
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
This service was registered with us on 18 September 2021 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.