A Peel Ltd

Updated 30 May 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

One inspector and one assistant inspector carried out the inspection site visit on the 29 April 2019, with the inspector returning on the 30 April to conclude the site visit. Two Experts by Experience contacted people and relatives by telephone. An Expert by Experience is someone who has had experience of using or supporting someone who uses with this type of care support service.

Service and service type:

Carewatch (North Birmingham) is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means 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 working hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the management team is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered with us. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as allegations of abuse and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

We contacted 29 people and/or relatives by telephone and spoke with six people and two relatives to gather their views on the service being delivered. We also spoke with the provider’s representative, the registered manager, four care staff and a social care professional. We used this information to form part of our judgement.

We looked at seven people’s care records to see how their care and treatment was planned and delivered. Other records looked at included three recruitment files to check suitable staff members were recruited and received appropriate training. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service along with a selection of the provider’s policies and procedures, to ensure people received a good quality service. Details are in the ‘Key Questions’ below.

Updated 30 May 2019

About the service:

Carewatch (North Birmingham) is a local area domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported 86 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

The provider’s governance systems to check the quality of the service provided for people were not consistently effective and required some improvement.

People and relatives told us they felt the service was safe and there were sufficient numbers of staff that were safely recruited to support people. Staff had completed induction training that included safeguarding, medication, health and safety and moving and handling. Staff had access to equipment and clothing that protected people from cross infection.

People were protected from potential risk of harm; risk assessments were in place and staff knew how to support people’s individual needs to ensure they provided a consistent level of care. People’s care and support needs were assessed to ensure the service provided could meet their individual need.

Staff received ongoing training they required to meet people’s needs. People were supported to access healthcare services to ensure they received ongoing healthcare support. People, as much as practicably possible, had choice and control of their lives and staff were aware of how to support them in the least restrictive way.

People were supported by kind and caring staff that knew them well. Staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity.

People were supported by staff who knew their preferences. Complaints made since the service started had been investigated and resolved. People and their families knew who to contact if they had any complaints.

People and their relatives views were sought about the quality of the care being provided. Staff felt supported by the management team.

People, their relatives and staff were happy with the way the service was managed and the provider worked well with partner organisations to ensure people’s needs were met.

The service did not meet some of the characteristics of Good in one key question and more information is in the detailed findings below.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 31 August 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection. The site visit took place on the 29 and 30 April 2019 and telephone calls were made to people using the service on the 30 April 01, 02 and 03 May 2019.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-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.