Background to this inspection
Updated
28 February 2020
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 undertaken by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to children and young people living in their own homes.
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 14 January 2019 and ended on 20 January 2020. We visited the office location on 16 January 2020.
What we did before the inspection
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 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 all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
Not everyone who used the service could communicate verbally. We were unable to speak with people who used the service. We spoke with three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff, the registered manager and the manager from quality assurance. We also spoke with three social workers and a staff member from social services.
We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records. We looked at staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including the service improvement plan.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.
Updated
28 February 2020
Reed Specialist Recruitment Cambridge is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to children and young people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people using the service.
Not everyone who used the service received 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. At the time of our inspection 3 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Risk assessments were completed to keep people safe, although not all staff had followed the guidance to ensure people were kept safe.
People received safe support from staff who received appropriate training. The provider had a robust recruitment process in place. Relatives told us people received good support and care by staff. However, one person did not always receive enough staff to support them outside. Accidents and incidents were monitored to ensure appropriate actions were taken.
Staff promoted people’s choice and independence. People were involved with decisions about their care and support. Staff understood the importance of infection control.
Relatives confirmed staff were kind, caring and compassionate. People had the opportunity to express their views and had developed caring relationships with staff. People had access to other professionals to ensure their health needs were met.
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 provided with good day to day support with such areas as health needs and accessing the community to follow their interests.
People’s care was arranged in response to their identified needs. This was kept under review and updated as and when needed.
The management team carried out regular checks and monitoring of the service.
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 good. (last report published 9 August 2017).
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.