UK Case Management Limited

Updated 19 December 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 team consisted of 2 inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and specialist housing.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced. We gave the service a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure a manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the 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 the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people using the service and 4 relatives, who had given us permission to contact them. We also spoke with 7 staff including support workers, clinical lead, assistant case manager and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records, including people’s care records, staff recruitment files, records relating to medicines, training and supervision, accidents and incidents, safeguarding logs, policies and procedures, and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and governance records.

Updated 19 December 2023

About the service

UK Case Management Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to children, adults and older people who may have physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 8 people using the service receiving personal care. 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 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.

Risks to individuals were identified and well managed. There was an emphasis on safely promoting people’s well-being and independence. Medicines were managed safely. Staff had received training in safeguarding and were aware of their responsibilities. There were safe systems of staff recruitment in place and sufficient staff deployed to meet people’s needs. Staff teams were built specifically around individuals and their needs and preferences.

Staff received the induction, training and support they needed to carry out their roles effectively. People’s needs were assessed and detailed care plans and risk assessments gave staff clear guidance on people’s needs and preferences. People were supported to access a range of health care professionals and staff and managers worked closely with other agencies to ensure people’s needs were met.

The service was well managed. The registered manager had a good understanding of what was needed to provide good quality care and support. There was a range of detailed quality monitoring, auditing and oversight in place. People who used the service spoke very positively about the service, registered manager and staff. The registered manager demonstrated a commitment to providing a person-centred, responsive service. Staff we spoke with shared that commitment. Staff and the registered manager spoke with compassion and empathy about the people who used the service.

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 9 March 2023) and there were breaches of regulations relating to management of risk, medicines, safeguarding and governance. 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 whether the Warning Notice we previously served in relation to Regulation 17 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 had been met and to check they 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.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. 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 UK Case Management Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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