Care4you

Updated 2 May 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

An inspector and an expert by experience carried out the inspection. 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:

Care4you is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own houses, flats or specialist housing. The service provides personal care and support to adults.

The service is run by an individual and it is therefore not required to have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The registered individual is 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 site visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure they would be in to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 March 2019 and ended on 22 March 2019. We visited the office location on 13 March 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. During this, we spoke with two care staff.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we looked at information we held about the service including notifications. A notification is information about events that registered persons are required to tell us about. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR) to plan the inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection, we looked at various information including:

¿ Care records for four people.

¿ Records of accidents and incidents; compliments and complaints; audits; surveys.

¿ Two staff files to check the provider's staff recruitment, training and supervision processes.

¿ Some of the provider’s policies and procedures.

During 21 and 22 March 2019, we spoke with nine people using the service, six relatives, one live-in paid carer not employed by the service and two care staff by telephone.

Updated 2 May 2019

About the service:

Care4you is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to adults. At the time of the inspection, 31 people were being supported by the service.

Not everyone using a domiciliary care agency receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service:

People, relatives and staff told us the service was exceptionally caring. Feedback from everyone was extremely positive about how the manager and staff supported people in a kind and person-centred way. Everyone said the service was exceptionally good and they said the manager’s approach to good-quality care was the main reason for this. One staff member appropriately summed up everyone’s views when they said, “I’m not biased, but I think this service has a lot of ‘outstanding’ features. It is really good!”

People felt safe while being supported by staff. Relatives were confident people would be supported safely, including in managing any known risks. There was evidence people were protected from harm by staff who had been trained, and were confident in recognising and reporting concerns. Potential risks to people’s health and wellbeing were assessed and minimised. There were enough staff to ensure people’s needs were met safely. People were supported well to manage their medicines because staff had been trained to do so safely. Staff followed effective processes to prevent the spread of infection.

People said their needs had been met by skilled staff. Staff had been appropriately trained, well supported and had information to meet people’s assessed needs. Where required, staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink. Staff supported people to access healthcare services when required to help them maintain their health and well-being.

People were 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. People were fully involved in making decisions about their care and support. People and their relatives were involved in planning and reviewing care plans. People told us staff who supported them were caring and friendly. Staff respected and promoted people’s privacy, dignity and independence.

Information in people's care plans supported staff to provide person-centred care that met people’s needs. The manager worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure people received care that met their needs. There was a system to ensure people’s suggestions, concerns and complaints were recorded, investigated, and acted upon to reduce the risk of recurrence. Where required, staff supported people well at the end of their lives.

Audits and quality monitoring checks were carried out regularly to continually improve the service. The service had systems to enable people to provide feedback about their experiences of the service. People's experiences of the service were extremely positive, and the manager showed us they worked hard to provide consistently good-quality care.

Rating at last inspection:

The service was rated 'good' when we last inspected it. That report was published in March 2016.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor all information we receive about the service and schedule the next inspection accordingly.