Background to this inspection
Updated
3 October 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 1 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 and specialist housing.
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 24 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. Inspection activity started on 12 July 2023 and ended on 23 August 2023. We visited the location’s office on 13 July 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We looked at all the information we held about the provider including information they sent us when they were registered with us. We also looked at reviews people had posted online about the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with a carer worker, a senior care worker and the registered manager. We viewed a range of records. This included 5 people's care and risk management plans and care records. We saw 5 staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision. We viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including medicines support records, audits, meeting records and procedures. After our visit we spoke with 2 care workers and received email responses from 52 care workers. We spoke with 1 professional who had worked with the service recently, 4 people and 7 relatives of people who use the service. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
3 October 2023
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.
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
About the service
4319 Fountain Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the agency was supporting 56 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Care
People felt safe, staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect. People and relatives felt the service was managed well and the care needs were met. Personalised care and risk management plans set out people’s care needs and preferences and communication support. Staff followed these plans and found them helpful. Staff received regular training, supervision and competency checks. This included safeguarding awareness training so staff knew how to report potential abuse concerns.
Right Support
Staff supported people with their medicines appropriately. There were procedures for responding to and learning from accidents and incidents. There were enough staff to meet people's needs. People were usually visited by the same staff who they were familiar with and who knew their needs and how they liked to be supported. There were recruitment processes in place to help make sure only suitable staff were employed.
Right Culture
People and relatives felt the service was managed well and the care needs were met. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and recognise when improvements were required. People and staff were asked to give feedback about the service. People and their relatives knew how to raise issues or complaints and found the registered manager responsive, approachable and experienced. The service worked in partnership with other professionals to meet people’s needs and help them to access healthcare. 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
The last rating for this service was good (8 February 2018). The rating for the service following this inspection remains good.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.