Catto Homecare

Updated 18 January 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:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Catto Homecare is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their homes. CQC regulates the care provided by the agency. 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 visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. Inspection site visit activity started on 11 December 2018 and ended on 18 December 2018.

What we did:

We reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the previous inspection report, notifications since the last inspection and feedback from the local authority. Notifications are changes, events and incidents that the service must inform us about. We used information the provider sent us in their Provider Information Return (PIR). This is 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.

During the inspection, we visited the office location on 3 December 2018 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We reviewed four people’s care records, three staff files around staff recruitment, training and supervision. Records relating to the management of the home and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider were also reviewed. After the inspection we completed telephone interviews with two people and four relatives.

Updated 18 January 2019

What life is like for people using this service:

People who received care from Catto Homecare told us they felt safe and supported by staff who visited them. Staff were punctual and consistent at carrying out visits with people in a person-centred manner. One person told us, “I’m very satisfied. They are very caring, very professional.” A second person said, “They do as I ask every day. They turn up on time.”

People told us that they were visited consistently by the same staff who were well trained and experienced. Where needed, staff were quick to support people to have access to health care professionals such as occupational therapists or, when necessary, emergency services.

People and relatives described staff as caring and kind towards them. Staff were approachable and friendly with people they cared for and knew them well.

Care plans were created with people and relatives to ensure they were person centred and tailored to peoples’ needs and routines.

The service was well managed by a supportive and progressive management team. People, staff and relatives were involved in helping the service improve.

More information can be seen in the main body of the report for each Key Question below.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (20 June 2016)

About the service:

Catto Homecare is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to 15 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating. We inspect all services rated as 'Good' every 30 months to ensure that we regularly monitor and review the quality and safety of the service people receive. At the last inspection we found that medicines were not being audited and people’s mental capacity was not being assessed. We also found that some quality assurance checks were not effective or robust.

At this inspection we found that medicines were being audited and people’s mental capacity was being assessed when necessary. We also found that quality assurance checks were effective at driving improvement and ensuring high standards.