Community Caring Limited

Updated 30 April 2020

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

This inspection was undertaken by an inspector, an medicines inspector and two Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Service and service type

Community Caring is a domiciliary care service providing support and personal care to people in their own homes.

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. This was because we needed to be sure that the office would be open and that the manager or other senior person would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 10 March 2020 and ended on 12 March 2020.

What we did before the inspection:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We assessed the 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 contacted the local authority to gain their feedback on the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection:

We spoke with 11 people who used the service and seven relatives by telephone to gain their feedback on the service. We also spoke with the manager and the senior care co-ordinator (the management team) and two care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care records and a sample of medication records. Three staff recruitment files, records relating to staff training and support and records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 30 April 2020

About the service

Community Caring is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and other types of support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 146 people received help with their personal care. The Care Quality Commission only regulates personal care.

People’s experience of using this service

At the last inspection, the provider was rated requires improvement. At this inspection, we found the service overall had improved to good.

At the last inspection, the way the service managed the administration of medication was unsafe. At this inspection, although further improvements were still required the management of medication had significantly improved.

After the last inspection, people’s care plans had been reviewed, updated and improved upon. Staff had information on people’s needs and risks but some risks required further assessment. We spoke with the manager about this. They told us they were in the process of using a new system with more advanced assessment tools for this purpose.

At the last inspection, the support people received was not always in accordance with what had been planned or agreed. At this inspection, records showed the majority of people’s visits were completed within agreed and sufficient timeframes. The management team’s oversight had improved and as a result people’s experience of care was more positive.

Staffing levels, staff recruitment and support were all satisfactory and well managed.

People told us staff were kind, caring and compassionate. They said their privacy and dignity were respected and that staff knew them well. Most people told us they had the same regular carers and that if they had any concerns, the management team were approachable and resolved them efficiently.

Improvements to the implementation of the mental capacity act had been made. Where there were concerns over a person’s ability to consent to their care, best interest discussions with the people closest to them had taken place to ensure any support provided, was in their best interests, and as least restrictive as possible.

The systems and governance arrangements in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service had been reviewed. More comprehensive checks on the quality and safety of people’s care were not in place. The management team’s oversight of the service had increased. It was obvious they had taken on board our concerns at the last inspection and had worked hard to address them. As a result, the service had improved and people’s feedback was very complimentary.

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection the rating of the service was requires improvement (Report published 18 September 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. After the last inspection, the provider was issued with a warning notice. They completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

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