Background to this inspection
Updated
4 July 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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for an older person that 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 flats.
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 21 May 2019 and ended on 22 May 2019. We visited the office location on 21 and 22 May 2019 to see the coordinators and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed all the information we held about the service and completed our planning tool. This included notifications the provider had sent us. A notification is information about significant events which the provider is required to send to us. We also contacted the local authority who had no concerns about the service.
We 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 inspection. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with seven people who used the service and two relatives. We spoke with two coordinators and contacted five staff members by email. We looked at three people's care records. We also looked at a range of records relating to the running of the service, including three recruitment files, training records, medicine administration monitoring, rotas, quality monitoring records, complaints, staff recruitment and policies and procedures.
After the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager who was on leave during the inspection. Information gained on inspection was corroborated and further information was sent to us by the registered manager following the inspection.
Updated
4 July 2019
About the service
Quality Care is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 90 people using the service.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 and their relatives told us they felt safe. The provider had effective safeguarding procedures and staff felt confident raising concerns. We saw application forms did not request a full employment history. This was actioned immediately by the registered manager following on from inspection and we saw that CV's were being sought. Although formal 1-1 supervision meetings and staff meetings were not currently being documented due to the fact the staff team were in regular contact with the management, staff told us they felt well supported. We made a recommendation about documenting supervisions with staff and organising team meetings. We also found some policies and procedures needed updating.
People told us their medicines were being managed safely and assessments of need and care plans were undertaken. Staff told us they had appropriate training. 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.
People told us the staff were extremely caring. They told us they were treated with dignity and respect. We observed staff supporting an individual and it was evident they were kind, caring and considerate. We saw numerous thank you cards and compliments praising the staff team.
People and families knew who to speak to if they had a concern and felt confident raising any issues. No complaints had been received since last inspection. We saw evidence of quality assurance surveys taking place which were very thorough and covered a range of topics.
People were consulted about their care and received care that was centred on them as an individual. People felt well supported by the management. It was clear they were passionate about the care they provided as a family run agency.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 23 November 2016)
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.