Unite Highland Care

Updated 25 March 2023

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 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.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short notice period of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 28 February 2023 and ended on 5 March 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had about the service, including intelligence we gathered during a monitoring call with the registered manager in September 2022. We also reviewed feedback submitted by people using the service as part of our monitoring activity. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR) in December 2022. This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met with the registered manager via Teams to talk about how the service was run. We spoke with 3 people who used the service and 2 relatives to hear their feedback about the care the agency provided. We received feedback from 2 professionals who worked with the service and from 5 staff about the training, support and information they received.

We reviewed assessments, risk assessments, care plans and medicines records for 3 people. We checked recruitment records for 3 staff, records of staff induction, training and supervision, meeting minutes, quality audits and spot checks.

Updated 25 March 2023

About the service

Unite Highland Care provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes.

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.

The service was supporting 15 people at the time of our inspection, 8 of whom received personal care.

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

People told us staff were kind and helpful and knew their needs well. Staff treated people with respect and promoted their independence. People had opportunities to give feedback about their care and told us their views were listened to and acted upon.

Risk assessments had been carried out to identify and manage any risks involved in people’s care. Staff managed people’s medicines safely. People were protected from the risk of infection because staff followed good practice in infection prevention and control (IPC). Staff attended safeguarding training and knew how to report any concerns they had about abuse or poor practice. The agency’s recruitment procedures helped ensure staff were suitable for the work they did.

People’s needs were assessed before the agency provided their care. Care plans were developed from these assessments, which contained guidance for staff about how people’s care should be provided. Staff supported people to maintain good health and followed any guidance put in place by healthcare professionals.

People knew how to complain and felt able to raise concerns if they were dissatisfied. 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.

Staff had the training they needed to carry out their roles and to provide people’s care in a safe way. Staff received good support from the registered manager and could speak up if they had concerns or suggestions for improvements. Quality monitoring systems helped the registered manager maintain an effective oversight of the service and to ensure people received safe, consistent care.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 7 January 2022 and this is the first inspection. Although registered in January 2022, the service did not begin providing care to people until July 2022.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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