Background to this inspection
Updated
19 March 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, 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 team was made up of two inspectors 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. The expert for this inspection has personal experience of caring for an older person living with dementia.
Service and service type:
Caremark Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to older adults including people living with dementia.
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:
This was an announced inspection as we needed to obtain consent from people to be contacted by our expert by experience. We also had to be sure someone would be at the office when we visited.
What we did:
Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must let us know about, such as abuse; and we sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals involved with the service. We used all this information to plan our 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, care co-ordinator and three members of care staff. We contacted six people and two relatives by telephone to ask for their feedback. We looked at three people’s care records including their medicine records and daily notes. We looked at two staff files. We reviewed training and supervision records and documents relating to the management of the service including complaints and compliments, minutes of meetings and quality audits.
Updated
19 March 2020
About the service:
Caremark Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. 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 inspection 13 people were using the service and 12 of these were receiving personal care.
People's experience of using this service:
People told us they felt safe with staff and were happy with the service they received. People received their care calls from regular staff who knew them well. Staff were generally on time and stayed for the full duration of the agreed call times. All people asked said staff were kind and caring and they would recommend the service to others. Positive comments were also made about the helpfulness, visibility and professionalism of the registered manager.
Risks to people had been assessed and staff knew what to do to keep people safe. People’s medicines were safely managed by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent. Staff followed good infection control practices and wore gloves and aprons as required.
People’s needs had been assessed and their wishes and preferences were known and respected. Staff were trained and competent in their role. Staff received supervisions and appraisals to monitor their performance and identify any learning needs.
Where required people received help with eating and drinking which met their needs and preferences. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Staff listened to people and knew people well. People were treated with dignity and respect and their independence was promoted. People’s privacy was maintained. The service was responsive to people’s needs and provided care and support the way people liked it. There were policies and procedures in place to manage complaints appropriately.
We made a recommendation about people's preferences for end of life care.
The service was well led by a longstanding registered manager who was ‘hands-on’ and provided care and support. This meant they could monitor staff performance and check people were satisfied with the service.
Quality assurance processes were in place to monitor safety and quality and identify any areas requiring improvement. People and staff were asked for their feedback and included in how the service was run.
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Rating at last inspection: Good. (Last report published July 2017).
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Follow up: We will continue to monitor and inspect this service based on the information we receive.