Villa Care Agency

Updated 18 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.

Inspection activity started on 19 June and ended on 25 June 2019. We visited the office location on 19 June 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information we held about the service to plan the inspection. This included checking for any statutory notifications that the provider had sent to us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. 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

During the inspection we spoke with three relatives of people who received a service. We also spoke with four staff members and the registered manager who was also the provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medicine administration records. We also looked at records of accidents, incidents and complaints and quality assurance records, as well as three staff recruitment records and staff training records.

Updated 18 July 2019

About the service

Villa Care Agency is a domiciliary care service which is registered to provide 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, 17 people were receiving a regulated service.

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

Relatives told us they felt people were safe and staff knew how to identify and report concerns relating to people’s safety and well-being. Risks were assessed and managed to reduce the risk of avoidable harm. People received timely support by a consistent staff team. Systems used for the management of medicines were safe and people received their medicines as prescribed.

People’s needs were assessed and reviewed to ensure their care needs were met. Staff received training relevant to their role and felt supported by the management team. Staff sought people’s consent before providing care and decisions about people’s care and treatment were made in line with law and guidance. People received sufficient amounts to eat and drink to maintain their health. People were supported to access healthcare agencies when required.

People were supported by a caring and compassionate staff team. People were supported to maintain their independence and their dignity was valued and respected.

People’s care was responsive to their changing needs. People, and those close to them, were involving in the assessment and planning of their care. People knew how to raise a concern if they were unhappy about the service they received.

People, relatives and staff felt the service was well managed. The registered manager had made improvements since the last inspection. People, relatives and staff were given opportunities to share their views about the service. The registered manager carried out auditing to ensure the quality of care provided.

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 30 November 2016).

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.