One Stop Care Solution

Updated 26 June 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one assistant inspector.

Service and service type:

Care 4 U is a domiciliary care agency which means it provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the staff and the management team are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

We visited the office location to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. Telephone calls were made to people using the service and their relatives on 20 May 2019.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse; and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the Provider Information Return (PIR) that had been submitted. Providers are required to send us a PIR at least once annually to give some key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections

We spoke with eight people and eight relatives to gather their views on the service being delivered. We also spoke with the provider, the care manager, the care coordinator and four care staff. We used this information to form part of our judgement.

We looked at five people’s care records to see how their care and treatment was planned and delivered. Other records looked at included two recruitment files to check suitable staff members were recruited and received appropriate training. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service along with a selection of the provider’s policies and procedures, to ensure people received a good quality service.

Updated 26 June 2019

About the service:

Care 4 U is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 20 people with their personal care, most of whom have a disability or are living with dementia.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were kept safe by an experienced and consistent group of staff who knew people well and had developed a good understanding of how people wanted their care to be delivered.

Staff routinely arrived to deliver care on time and stayed for the time expected. People and relatives we spoke with were all happy with the care and support being delivered and were kept informed if staff were running late.

People were treated with dignity and respect and were able to make choices about their care and support. Staff understood about mental capacity and ensured people had consented to care being given.

People’s health was monitored closely and staff worked well with other agencies and professionals to ensure people received the care they needed. Staff received appropriate training on a regular basis to enable them to deliver safe and effective care.

People’s preferences were assessed and their cultural wishes respected. The staff team were representative of the local community and the background of the people they were supporting which helped staff understand and meet people’s needs.

People and their relatives were happy with the way the service was being managed and staff felt supported by the management team. The provider was open and honest throughout the inspection and was committed to improving the service.

The quality of the service was not always monitored by managers or the provider to ensure people received a consistently good service. There were gaps in record keeping which had not been identified by audits or checks and some records such as care plans and risk assessments need to be updated.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 06 December 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to check the service remained good.

Follow up:

We will also 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.