The Care Company

Updated 12 October 2017

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.’

This inspection took place on 18 and 19 July and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service.

The inspection was carried out by two 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. The expert by experience has experience of older people and people with dementia.

Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We sent out surveys to people, people’s relatives and health and social care professionals involved with the service. We reviewed information we held about the service. We looked at notifications received by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law, such as a serious injury.

The inspection visit was carried out over two days. The inspectors visited and spoke with four people and their relatives in their own homes. The expert by experience spoke to 11 people and relatives over the telephone. We spent some time in the office over the two days, talking to the registered manager and office staff team, looking at assessments and care plans and checking records. We spoke to four care staff in the office, looked at six staff files and eight care plans.

The service changed to the current registration on 9 July 2015. There had been no concerns under their previous registration and they had met the regulations.

Updated 12 October 2017

This was the first inspection of The Care Company because the service had changed their registration, as they had moved their office location and it was a requirement of CQC to re-register. This inspection was announced.

The Care Company is a domiciliary care service provided to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to people with a wide range of care needs, including older adults with physical disabilities, sensory impairment, people living with dementia and helps people recover from illness and injury. At the time of the inspection 128 people were using the service.

The service has been operating for over 10 years in the local area around Tenterden. The service’s registration changed because they moved to a new office in June 2015.

The service has a registered manager who participated in the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Each person had a care plan that gave sufficient information about their care and support and included their preferences. There were clear processes to support people to make decisions about their care and support. Mental capacity assessments had been carried out for people who lacked capacity and they were supported with best interest meetings that were recorded in their care plan.

Everyone we spoke to said they felt safe when being cared for by the care staff of The Care Company. Staff had received training in how to recognise abuse and knew how to blow the whistle on poor practice. There were clear processes and procedures for staff to follow if they had concerns and suspected abuse.

The service had supported people to have safe systems in their home to help protect them. People had been assisted to have lifeline fobs, falls monitors and smoke detectors. There were clear risk assessments and equipment used was checked for safety and staff had training to make sure they were competent to use it.

The registered manager and care staff worked closely with local health and social care professionals to support people’s health and wellbeing and make sure people were well hydrated and nourished. People were supported to take their medicines in the way they preferred.

New staff had been recruited safely. People were complimentary of the caring nature of the staff and said they were listened to and treated with respect. A person told us the care staff are, “All good. There’s not one that I’ve not been happy with.” People were supported to maintain as much independence as possible. Care staff provided some activities for people and spent time with them to protect them from social isolation. People said the care staff were reliable and always arrived at the time they said they would.

There was a good range of training to give staff the skills they needed to support people effectively. Staff were enthusiastic about the training they had attended and the service were innovative in the way they provided training. They had recently hired the ‘Dementia Bus’ that provided specialised training for staff to support people with dementia.

People said the service was well managed and were very pleased with the support they received. A person commented, “It’s absolutely fantastic”. There was a clear complaints system that included investigating any concern or complaint thoroughly and outcomes were recorded.

People, their relatives and care staff said they were asked what they thought of the service and felt listened to and valued. The service was signed up to the Social Care Commitment and the registered manager and team reviewed how they supported people in line with current good practice. (The Social Care Commitment is an agreement about improving workforce quality and providing high quality services in adult social care and is backed up by the Department of Health and Skills for Care.)

A business and development plan based on everyone’s feedback was in place and on display so that everyone knew what the service was focusing on. The service had links in the local community, worked with a local supermarket’s community events, participated in charity events and promoted support and awareness for people with dementia.

The registered manager carried out checks and audits of the service and all records were kept securely. The CQC had been informed of any important events that occurred at the service, in line with current legislation.