Crossroads Care Tendring and Colchester

Updated 31 May 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: This 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 someone who uses this type of care service. Their area of expertise is older people and dementia care.

Service and service type

Crossroads Care Tendring and Colchester is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses, flats and specialist housing. It provides a service to people in the Tendring and Colchester surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 46 people and employed 45 members of staff.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that someone was available at the office. Inspection site activity took place on 24 April 2019 and telephone calls to people using the service, staff and relatives were made on additional days. We visited the office site location to see the registered manager and office staff and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did when preparing for and carrying out this inspection:

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about and we sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with four people and seven relatives of people who use the service to ask about their experience of the care provided. We spoke to five members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, care co ordinator and care staff.

We also reviewed a range of records. These included four people's care and medication records. We also looked at five staff files including supervision records, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider. We looked at records relating to recruitment, training and systems for monitoring quality.

Updated 31 May 2019

About the service:

Crossroads Care Tendring and Colchester is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The agency supports 280 people. Some of the people using the service had complex needs and the frequency of visits depended on people's individual requirements. Some elements of the service although provided by Crossroads Tendering and Colchester would not need to be registered with the Commission if this was their sole purpose. Because of this, we have focussed our inspection on the people in receipt of personal care only. At the time of our inspection, 46 people were receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt they received care in a safe way. Individual risks to people and the environment had been identified and assessed and measures put in place to manage them and minimise the risk of harm occurring. Staff showed a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities for keeping people safe from harm.

Medicines were managed safely by trained staff who ensured that people received medicines at the right time.

Sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and skilled staff were deployed to meet people's individual needs.

Staff had received a range of training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely. People told us they received the right care and support from staff who were well trained and competent at what they did.

Staff were motivated to deliver care in a person-centred way based on people's preferences and likes. Staff treated people with kindness, compassion and respect and ensured that people's dignity was maintained at all times.

People spoke positively about the care and support they received. People told us they received support from regular staff who knew them well. They told us staff always arrived on time and stayed the right amount of time.

People's needs and choices were assessed and planned for. Care plans identified intended outcomes for people and how they were to be met in a way they preferred. People received support to maintain good nutrition and hydration and their healthcare needs were understood and met.

Records relating to consent for care were accurately completed and people told us they were always offered choice and control over the care they received. Care was delivered in a personalised way which was in line with information recorded in people's care plans.

People and family members knew how to make a complaint and they were confident about raising concerns should they need to. They were confident that their complaint would be listened to and acted upon quickly.

The leadership of the service promoted person centred care and a positive culture within the staff team. People, family members and staff all described the registered manager as supportive and approachable. The registered manager displayed knowledge and understanding around the importance of working closely with other agencies and healthcare professionals where needed.

Rating at last inspection: Good (Inspection report published in November 2016)

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 as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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