Trafalgar Community Care Limited

Updated 23 January 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one Adult Social Care Inspector.

Service and service type:

Trafalgar Community Care is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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 visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service. This included the statutory notifications sent to us by the registered provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law. We also contacted the commissioners of the service to gain their views.

The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan how the inspection should be conducted.

During the inspection site visit we spoke with the registered manager and the registered provider. We also looked at care records belonging to three people, recruitment records for three staff and other records relating to the management and quality monitoring of the service. We held telephone discussions on two other days with three people who used the service, four family members and two staff.

Updated 23 January 2019

About the service: Trafalgar Community Care is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service operates from an office based in Huyton, Knowsley. At the time of this inspection 27 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service: People were protected from abuse and the risk of harm. Staff were provided with training in safeguarding and topics of health and safety. Risks to people had been identified and plans were in place to support staff in recognising and managing those risks. Staff understood their responsibilities for keeping people safe and who to contact if they had any concerns about people’s safety. Medication was managed safely by competent staff. People received their prescribed medicines at the right times. Safe recruitment procedures were followed and people received care and support from the right amount of suitably skilled staff. People told us that staff were mostly on time and stayed with them for the full duration of their contracted visit.

Each person had a care plan setting out their needs and how they were to be met in a way they preferred. People told us they received the right care and support which they had agreed to. Staff received the training and support they needed for their job role. Staff understood and respected people’s right to make their own decisions. Staff obtained people’s consent before providing them with any care and support.

People were treated in a respectful way and their privacy, dignity and independence was promoted. Positive relationships had been formed between people who used the service and staff. People and family members made positive comments about the way staff provided care and support.

People's needs were assessed, planned for and regularly reviewed involving people and relevant others such as family members. People told us they received personalised care and support. People were provided with information about how to complain and were confident in doing so should they need to.

Managers promoted a person-centred service and worked hard to maintain high standards of care. They promoted an open and positive culture and worked in partnership with others to improve and promote the service. The quality, safety and effectiveness of the service was monitored through regular checks which took into account people’s views and opinions.

Rating at last inspection: Good (The last report was published on 22 April 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.