Background to this inspection
Updated
26 June 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:
One adult social care 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:
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection it was providing care and support to 200 people.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit to be sure the registered manager, staff and people they supported would be available to speak with us.
What we did:
Inspection site visit activity started on 9 April 2019 and ended on 25 April 2019. We visited the office location 16 April 2019 to see the manager, owner, office staff, care supervisors and care workers; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We spoke with 21 people and 10 of their relatives on the telephone.
Before our inspection we completed a planning tool and reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service and previous inspection reports.
As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also received feedback from community health and social care professionals who work with the service; and from commissioners.
Updated
26 June 2019
About the service:
Bellcare is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people who live in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 200 people.
People’s experience of using this service:
The service maintained its rating of outstanding in Effective awarded at the last inspection in 2016. We found that while the service was good in Caring we did not see the same continued development in this key question to maintain the outstanding rating.
The feedback we received from people continued to be excellent; they expressed great satisfaction with the caring attitude of staff and the reliability of the service. People were all very enthusiastic about how the way in which care was given made a “huge difference” to their lives. One relative told us, “The agency are excellent all round. Staff are genuinely caring." Another person told us, “I would rate them as very good, a 10 out of 10. They often go the extra mile to make sure I'm okay.”
The staff team were very well-trained and staffing levels were continuously reviewed to ensure there were enough staff to provide flexible and responsive care.
The provider continued to design training and staff development programmes that were innovative, based on evidence based best practice and bespoke to people’s individual needs. Staff reported excellent opportunities for additional training, support and staff development.
Staff were reliable and professional in their approach to their work and exceptionally caring to people they supported. These was a keen focus on promoting people’s independence and maintaining people in their own homes.
The provider assessed people's needs in partnership with them to help ensure they received appropriate care that was person-centred. The service worked in close partnership with healthcare professionals and families to ensure people’s health care needs were met. We received very positive feedback from healthcare and training professionals about the service provided and the open nature of the management team.
The provider continued to develop and shape services for the benefit of people they supported and the wider community. They had been instrumental in setting up volunteer Friendship Circles to combat loneliness and were part of a rural project initiative with the local authority to provide a more holistic, single point of contact service to people in rural areas.
People continued to be safeguarded against the risks of abuse and harm by the systems and staff training in place. Risks to people were thoroughly assessed and mitigated. When incidents took place, the provider reflected on events to help reduce the risk of reoccurrence.
The service was well-organised and there was a clear staffing structure. People using the service and staff spoke of the owners’ and the registered manager's commitment and passion to provide a high-quality caring service.
The service continued to be well-led and benefitted from clear and consistent leadership.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
At the last inspection the service was rated outstanding (published 24 November 2016).
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.
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.