Arriva Care Services Limited

Updated 11 May 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 one inspector.

Service and service type

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

This service also provides care and support to people living in a number of ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 3 members of staff including the registered manager, operational manager and senior team leader.

We reviewed a range of records which included 2 people’s care records. We looked at 3 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.

After the inspection

We spoke with 1 relative and 5 members of staff (support workers) about their experience of the care provided as were unable to communicate directly with people using the service in line with their preferences.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at care records and quality assurance records. We gathered feedback from 4 professionals about their experience of the service.

Updated 11 May 2023

About the service

Arriva Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care and supported living service providing the regulated activity of personal care. At the time of our inspection there were 2 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: 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. A variety of risk assessments were in place so staff were aware of how best to support people and minimise risk. We found the service was working within the principles of The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

Right Care: People were protected from abuse and poor care and any concerns were addressed. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet their needs and keep them safe. People received kind and compassionate care from staff who protected and respected their privacy and dignity and understood and responded to their individual needs.

Right Culture: Staff spoke positively about the culture of the service and told us they placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People received consistent care from staff who knew them well. The management team and senior staff modelled good practice and led by example. One staff member said, “I work weekends and management are always available at weekends.”

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (18 September 2018)

Why we inspected

We received a concern in relation to people’s environments and staff’s understanding and application of The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Arriva Care Services 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.