Background to this inspection
Updated
16 July 2019
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 one inspector.
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.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 to the registered manager, director of the service and one care staff.
We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records. We looked at four 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 continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke to two people who used the service and two care staff over two further days. We spoke with two professionals, one who worked with the service, and an advocate.
Updated
16 July 2019
About the service
Tetra Live In Care is a domiciliary care service that provides 24 hour live in support to people who have a spinal cord injury. They were providing support to four people at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe at the service and staff protected them from risks they faced.
People were supported by staff who had been through a thorough recruitment process and had completed appropriate checks. People were happy with how their medicine was managed and told us they received this in a safe way. Staff followed safe hygiene practices.
Staff had received in depth training and received ongoing support from the service to ensure they had the relevant skills and knowledge to support people. People told us staff knew what they were doing and showed they were competent to help them in their daily lives.
People were happy with the staff who supported them and told us they were kind and compassionate. One person said, “[Staff] really goes out of his way.” The service wanted people to have good working relationships with the staff who supported them and acted promptly to find alternative staff if people wanted someone else to support them. Staff treated people in a respectful manner and did not discriminate against people.
People were involved in the preparation of their care plan and care was personalised. People’s preferences were respected, and people were supported by attentive staff who knew their likes and dislikes. Where people were not happy with any aspect of care the service actively listened and aimed to resolve it to the person’s satisfaction.
People and staff felt the management of the service were committed to providing a quality service and were available for support whenever they were needed.
The management of the service had improved the quality of audits to monitor the quality of the care and they regularly sought feedback from people who used the service and from their staff.
The management actively met with other organisations and charities who specialised in spinal injury to build community links and knowledge.
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 requires improvement (7 June 2018) and there were two breaches of the regulations. 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.