Wealden community Care Limited

Updated 1 March 2023

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and an 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.

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 the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was to give enough time for people to be contacted by the service to consent to CQC calling them.

Inspection activity started on 12 January 2023 and ended on 25 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on 12, 13 and 25 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback form the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 9 people who used the service and six relatives. We spoke to 11 members of staff including the registered manager, 3 care-co-ordinators, 3 supervisors and 4 care staff. We looked at 12 care plans and associated documents relating to risk management. We looked at multiple medicines records and policies and documents relating to complaints, safeguarding, auditing and quality assurance. We spoke with 3 professionals and looked at 18 staff files.

Updated 1 March 2023

About the service

Wealden Community Care Limited is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people living in their own homes. People supported were older adults some of whom lived with dementia and others with specific health needs associated with living with, for example, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and reduced mobility. 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. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 116 people, 114 of whom received personal care.

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

People were protected from harm and people told us they felt safe when being supported by the service. Risks to people had been identified and documented with clear guidelines for staff to follow in the event of an incident. Staff had been recruited safely and there were enough staff available to support people. Some people needed support with their medicines. Medicines were stored safely in people’s homes and were administered and recorded by trained staff. Medicine competency checks were regularly carried out by managers. Infection prevention and control measures were in place and staff continued to follow government guidelines following the recent pandemic. Accidents and incidents were recorded and analysed by the registered manager with any learning shared with all staff.

Most new referrals to the service were for people leaving hospital and a thorough pre-assessment process was carried out to ensure the service could meeting people’s needs. Following induction staff were supported with regular supervision and appraisals and refresher training in all areas. Some people were supported with their nutrition and hydration needs. 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 this practice.

People were treated with respect and dignity and people’s privacy was respected. People’s cultural and faith differences and needs were considered. People’s independence was encouraged safely, in all aspects of the care and support provided.

Care was person-centred and care calls were developed to suit people and their needs, likes and dislikes. The registered manager was aware of accessible information standards and each care plan had a section relating to people’s communication needs. People and their loved ones told us they were knew how to and were confident in raising issues or complaints. Staff had received end of life training and were able to tell us about the important aspects of care provision at this important time in people’s lives.

People, relatives and staff all spoke well of the registered manager and the wider management team. There were clear roles for staff dependent on geographic areas covered and the registered manager oversaw a robust auditing process. Everyone was given opportunities to feedback about the service and feedback was recorded and where necessary action taken to improve the service. The registered manager had a clear vision of continuous improvement and had established positive working relationships with other health and social care professionals.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 4 March 2021) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection 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 inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm. Please see the safe, effective, responsive and well-led sections of this full report.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care home inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Wealden Community Care Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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