Background to this inspection
Updated
19 June 2021
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 carried out by two inspectors.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The nominated individual continued to provide oversight of the service and had detailed interim management structures in place at the service. This means that the provider is legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave a short notice period of the inspection to ensure the inspection could be carried out safely in accordance with COVID-19 precautions and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 12 May 2021 and ended on 23 May 2021. We visited the office location on 13 May 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included a review of information from the provider’s other location. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
We spoke with three people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the support provided. We spoke with 14 members of staff including the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with the quality manager, the deputy manager, three care coordinators and eight support workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five 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 continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from two professionals who regularly work with the service.
Updated
19 June 2021
FirstCol Services Limited - Home Care - Crawley is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to both older people and younger adults living in their own homes. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care', which includes help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection there were 101 people who received personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were kept safe from abuse and harm, and staff knew how to report concerns. Risk assessments identified how potential risks should be managed to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing harm. Staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care in accordance with people’s support plans. There were enough staff to keep people safe. Recruitment processes ensured suitable staff were selected to work with people.
Staff had received induction and training to enable them to meet people’s needs effectively. Most staff felt supported by the management to perform their role and whilst formal supervision meetings had not always taken place, staff told us they could access support when they needed it. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible and acted in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.
People, their relatives and staff were informed about changes to how health and care records were gathered. An information technology system had been introduced and the service had moved essential records to this. This supported the service with a system to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service.
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (10 November 2017).
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns we had in relation to safe care and the induction and training of staff. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.
We found no evidence during this inspection people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and effective sections of this full report.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service is Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.