Classic Care Services Limited

Updated 17 January 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. 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector and CQC support services.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.

The service had a manager registered with CQC. Like the provider a registered manager is 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 4 December and ended on 11 December. We visited the office location on 10 December 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the provider, senior care workers and care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 17 January 2020

About the service

Classic Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency which provides support for adults in the community, including those living with dementia. At the time of the inspection 47 people were receiving personal care services.

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.

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

The culture of the service was positive, and people and staff were complementary of the management and provider. Systems and process were in place to monitor the quality of the service being delivered.

People were happy with the care they received and felt safe with the staff that were supporting them. Staff told us it was a good place to work and the enthusiasm from the team impacted positively on the people using the service. People received support from a consistent team who knew them well. There were sufficient numbers of staff to ensure people did not feel rushed and people received their support on time.

The service was safe. Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and improper treatment and staff knew how to identify potential harm and report concerns. People received their medicines safely from staff who were trained to administer these.

Care was personalised to meet people’s care, social and well-being needs. Care plans provided detailed information and guidance for staff. Staff knew people well and provided support in line with people’s preferences. People were treated with dignity and respect and their diverse needs were met.

People were cared for by staff who were well supported and had the right skills and knowledge to meet their needs effectively. Checks were carried out prior to staff starting work to ensure their suitability to work with people who used the service.

Positive and caring relationships had been developed between staff and people who used the service. People were treated with kindness and compassion and staff were friendly and respectful. People benefitted from having support from staff who had a good understanding of their individual 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 supported this practice.

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 13 December 2018) and there were three 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 was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.