Archived: Taylor Care & Car

Updated 25 April 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 was planned to check 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 14 and 15 March 2017 and was announced. The provider's office was visited on 14 March 2017 and some people who used the service or their relatives were telephoned for their feedback about the care received on 15 March 2017. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice before we visited the office because the service provides care to people within their own homes. The provider and staff operated from a central office and we needed to be sure that they would be on the premises so we could speak with them during the inspection. The inspection team consisted of one inspector 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.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This including looking at notifications the service had sent to us. Services have to by law, send us certain information in relation to incidents or accidents that occur. We also reviewed information we had received from the local authority quality assurance team.

During this inspection, we spoke with four people who used the service and three relatives of people who received care from Taylor Care and Car. We also spoke with three care staff, the care manager, office manager, registered manager and the provider.

We looked at the care records and risk assessments of three people who used the service, three staff recruitment records and information in relation to staff training. We also looked at how the provider monitored the quality and safety of the service.

Updated 25 April 2017

This was an announced inspection that took place on 14 and 15 March 2017.

Taylor Care and Car registered with the Care Quality Commission in 2013. It is a service that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, 34 people were receiving support from the service. Twenty-one of these were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

The provider is a partnership and is a family run business. There was a registered manager working for the service. 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 and associated Regulations about how the home is run.

The staff were kind, caring and compassionate and treated people with dignity and respect. People valued their relationships with the staff and often looked forward to their visits. Where possible, the provider ensured that people saw the same staff as they knew this was important to them.

The provider had ensured that there were enough staff working for the service to attend people’s care calls and that they stayed for the allocated length of time. This meant that staff could meet people’s care needs and preferences in relation to how they wanted to receive their care.

The provider had systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. Staff were aware of risks to people’s safety when they provided them with care and took actions to reduce these from occurring as much as possible. The current processes in place to make sure people had received their medicines correctly needed some improvement.

Staff had received training in a number of different areas. This gave them the knowledge and skills they needed to provide people with safe care. The provider ensured they received regular supervision from senior staff to make sure their care practice remained safe.

The processes in place to ensure that consent was obtained from people in line with the relevant legislation needed some improvement. We have made a recommendation that the provider seeks further information and training in this area.

Where people were supported to eat and drink as part of their care package, this was completed in line with people’s preferences. The staff also supported people with their healthcare if this was required, involving other healthcare professionals who could give specialist advice.

People were given a choice about the care they received and were involved in making decisions about their care. The provider actively sought feedback on the care being provided. They listened to people’s views and made improvements to the quality of care if needed.

Good leadership and direction was provided to the staff and there was an open, caring culture at the service. The staff were happy working for the service. They felt valued, supported and listened to.