Simply Care Partners

Updated 1 August 2019

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

This inspection was undertaken 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.

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 unannounced and took place on 3 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed information the provider is required by law to send us about events and incidents involving people. We also 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. We reviewed a range of records. This included the care records of the person using the service, their medicines administration record (MAR), two staff files, training and supervision information and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 1 August 2019

About the service

Simply Care Partners Liability Partnership LLP is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’, that is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do this, we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there was one person using the service.

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

The quality and safety of the service had improved for people since our last inspection. The provider had made changes to their recruitment and selection processes to reduce the risk of people being supported by unsuitable staff.

The provider had also reviewed and updated their medicines policy and procedures to make sure this reflected current best practice. This meant clear and accurate records were now being maintained in relation to people’s medicines. Our checks of the records of the person using the service indicated they received their medicines as prescribed.

The provider had improved their quality monitoring systems so that audits and checks now covered those areas of the service where we previously found gaps and shortfalls. This helped reduce the risk of the issues we found reoccurring.

The person using the service received support that had been planned and agreed with them. Their choices for how support was provided were respected and staff delivered this in line with their wishes. There were enough staff to meet the person’s needs. Staff knew the person well and understood their needs and how these should be met. Staff received relevant training and the provider made sure they were clear about their duties and responsibilities when providing care and support.

Staff were encouraged to treat the person with respect, maintain their dignity and privacy and to encourage their independence wherever possible, especially when being supported with their care needs. They made sure the person was able to do activities that interested them. The person was supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The person was supported to eat and drink enough to meet their needs. Records maintained by staff helped keep others involved in the person’s care, informed and up to date about the support provided to the person. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the person’s healthcare needs and how they should be supported with these in a timely and appropriate way.

Staff were trained to safeguard people from abuse and to report any concerns they had to the appropriate person and agencies. Staff knew how to manage and minimise identified risks to the person’s safety and wellbeing. They followed good practice when providing personal care and when preparing and handling food which reduced hygiene risks.

The provider encouraged the person using the service and staff to have their say about how the service could improve. They had arrangements in place to make sure any events, incidents and complaints were investigated which included keeping people involved and informed of the outcome. Learning from investigations was shared with staff to help them improve the quality and safety of the support they provided.

Since our last inspection the provider had undertaken a review of the service and had made the decision to reduce the number of people they delivered care to. They had no immediate plans to take on new packages of personal care for people living in their own homes. However, if in the future they planned to take on new packages, they would make sure an appropriate staffing complement would be put in place to ensure care and support could be provided safely.

At the time of this inspection the provider and the local authority were working towards improving communication and information sharing between them . This should help to improve partnership working between the provider and the local authority so that any concerns about the quality and safety of the service would be dealt with in a more effective and appropriate way.

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 was requires improvement (published 1 August 2018) and there was a breach of regulation. 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 regulation.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.