The Care Company Plus Limited

Updated 7 April 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

This inspection was completed by 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.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service had not had a registered manager since April 2018. The current manager was in the process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider will be legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before 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 visited, with their permission, four people supported by The Care Company Plus and telephoned nine people or relatives. We spoke with four members of staff, including the manager, a director of the service, a field care co-ordinator, the training support worker and five support workers.

The director had applied to the CQC to be the Nominated Individual for the service. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included eight people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three 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 spoke with five members of care staff by telephone.

Updated 7 April 2020

About the service

The Care Company Plus is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care for people living in their own homes. The service was supporting 80 people at the time of our inspection.

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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Feedback from people and their relatives was positive about the support provided. People received the support they wanted and were complimentary about the caring staff team.

The management team reviewed records each month. We have made a recommendation to ensure records are returned to the office in a timely manner for checks to be made and to ensure information is kept up to date.

People and relatives said the management team were approachable. Most staff were also positive about working for The Care Company Plus and felt well supported by the management team. The manager sought feedback from people, their relatives and staff through reviews, surveys, staff meetings and supervision meetings.

Staff received the training they needed for their role, although this hadn’t all been recorded on the company’s training matrix. Staff were safely recruitment; however, their full employment history was not always recorded. The manager said they would ask about any gaps in employment history during the interview process.

Clear care plans, risk assessments and task sheets identified the support people needed. These were regularly reviewed to ensure they reflected people’s needs. Where identified in their care plan people received support with their medicines, food, health needs and to observe their faith.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 6 October 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.