The Mews

Updated 26 September 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

There was one inspector.

Service and service type

Colbalt is a domiciliary care agency and supported living service. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 13 August 2019 and ended on 20 August 2019. We visited the office location on both the 13 August 2019 and the 20 August 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at the information we held about the service. We checked records held by Companies House. 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 also emailed five people who used the service and five members of staff asking for their feedback about the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met two people who used the service. We spoke with four members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager and one care worker. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medication records. We looked at (add number of files) staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including checks on the quality of care provided.

After the inspection: We received feedback from a further five member of staff, one person who used the service and one person’s relative. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 26 September 2019

About the service:

Colbalt is a domiciliary care agency. It is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes, including people with learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection visit the service supported 14 people.

This service provides care and support to people living in ‘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.

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe using the service and staff understood how to recognise and report abuse. Staff recruitment processes included background checks to review their suitability to work with vulnerable adults.

People received support from staff when needed and they were supported to have their medicines as prescribed. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink to maintain their well-being. People were supported to obtain advice from healthcare professionals when required.

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.

People were treated with dignity and their independence was promoted wherever possible. Staff provided care to people at the end of their lives.

People were involved in planning their care with support from staff. People and their families understood how to complain if they wanted to. The provider and the registered manager were open and honest, and worked in partnership with outside agencies to improve people’s support when required. There were checks in place to ensure good standards of care were maintained.

People did not have a full and up to date record of their care and support needs stored at the office location on the first day of our inspection visit because of a re-decoration programme. They were however accessible to people and staff in their homes. Improvements were made straight after our visit and records were available in the office location when we visited again.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was Good [overall with a rating of requires improvement in well led] (published January 2017). At this inspection we found improvements were made in how the service was led, and the rating has improved to good in all areas.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned 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 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.