Background to this inspection
Updated
21 January 2020
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. One inspector visited the office, while the other carried out telephone interviews with people who used the 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.
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 it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 19 November 2019 and ended on 20 November 2019. We visited the office location and contacted people by telephone to gather their views on 19 November 2019. On 20 November 2019 we contact care staff by telephone.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with five people who used the service and four people's relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke four staff and with the registered manager (who was also the nominated individual). The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. These included care and medicine records for four people. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision, and we examined a variety of records relating to the management of the service.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
21 January 2020
About the service
IRC Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, people living with dementia and younger disabled adults. At the time of our inspection IRC Care Services Limited were supporting 21 people.
Not everyone who uses the service may receive personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were positive about the support and care they received from the staff at IRC Care Services Limited.
Peoples choices and preferences around their care and support were discussed with them and recorded in their care plans. However, we have made a recommendation about increasing the detail in end of life care plans so that staff would have a better understanding of the impact of people’s religious or faith-based needs.
People had care plans in place. They gave staff enough information to provide care and support that met people’s preferences. People were positive that staff understood their needs and gave care and support in a way they wanted.
People told us they felt safe with the staff, and staff were aware of their responsibilities in keeping people safe from harm. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. People told us that staff arrived on time and stayed the allocated time. Where people were supported with their medicines, they told us this was done in a safe way, and they were given them when they needed them.
Staff received training and supervision to ensure they kept up to date on best practice and had the skills to meet people’s individual needs. People were positive about staff supporting them to have enough to eat and drink, as well as making sure they could access healthcare agencies when they became unwell.
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 told us they were supported by kind and caring staff, and we saw that where ever possible staff were matched with people so they had similar interests. People gave positive feedback about how well the care staff interacted with them involving them in decisions around their care and treated them with dignity and respect.
Where complaints had been received these had been used to make improvements to the service.
The provider completed various audits to assist them in monitoring and helping them to identify how to improve people's experiences. People told us they felt the service was well managed.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection (and update)
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 27 October 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.