Archived: A Star Care Services

Updated 12 December 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 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 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.

The office visit took place on 3 November 2017 and was announced. We told the registered manager before the visit we would be coming so they could make sure they would be available to speak with us. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Prior to our office visit we reviewed the information we held about the service. We looked at the statutory notifications the service had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law. We also spoke to the local authority commissioning team. They did not have any further information to share with us .

The provider sent us a list of people who used the service before our inspection. We contacted people by telephone and spoke with one person and four relatives to gather their views on the service they received. We also spoke with four care workers. We used this information to form part of our judgements.

During our office visit we spoke with the registered manager and one care worker. We reviewed two people's care records to see how their care and support was planned and delivered. We looked at two staff records to check whether staff had been recruited safely and were trained to deliver the care and support people required. We looked at other records related to people's care and how the service operated, including the service's quality assurance audits and records of complaints.

Updated 12 December 2017

A Star Care Services a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. It provides a service to older adults and operates across Solihull, West Midlands. There were six people using the service at the time of our inspection.

We visited the offices of A Star Care Services on 3 November 2017. This was the first inspection of the service since registering with the Care Quality Commission in October 2016. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

The service is required to have a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run. At the time of our inspection there was an experienced registered manager in post who was also the provider.

Everyone we spoke confirmed they felt safe with their care workers. This was because they received their care and support from care workers they knew and trusted. Care workers were recruited safely and there were enough care workers to support people safely.

Procedures were in place to protect people from harm. Care workers understood their responsibilities to keep people safe and were confident to raise any concerns with the registered manager. They understood the risks to people's individual health and wellbeing and risks were clearly recorded in people's records. A system was in place to record accidents and incidents and to reduce any reoccurrence.

Care workers understood their responsibilities in relation to infection control. People received their medicines from trained staff when they needed them.

Everyone we spoke with told us care workers had the skills and knowledge they needed to care for them effectively. New care workers were provided with effective support when they first started work at the service. Care workers also had opportunities to complete qualifications such as, social care diplomas (previously NVQs) in adult social care.

People were supported to manage their health conditions and to access other professionals when required. Care workers knew how to monitor and manage people's nutrition and hydration if this was required to make sure people's nutritional needs were maintained.

Care workers demonstrated an understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) so that they could ensure peoples' rights were being protected. The registered manager understood their responsibility to comply with these requirements. Care workers always obtained people's consent before they provided care and support.

Everyone we spoke with told us care workers were kind and caring. Care workers were proud of the care they provided to people. Because they provided care to the same people they had built up meaningful relationships with people and their families.

Care workers had a good understanding of people’s abilities and this meant they knew how to promote peoples independence. Everyone we spoke with told us care workers treated them with respect. Care workers described to us how they upheld people's privacy and dignity.

We received positive feedback about how the service was personalised and responded to people's individual needs. The registered manager and care workers knew what was important to people which meant people received care and support in line with their wishes and preferences.

People’s care records were personalised and contained detailed information about people's life histories and daily routines. This information helped care workers to provide support in the way people preferred. People and their relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care.

Everyone we spoke with told us the service was well led and they could not think of anything that would improve the service they received. People knew how to make a complaint and felt comfortable doing so. Care workers enjoyed working at the service because the registered manager was approachable and supportive.

There were effective systems to monitor and review the quality of the service. There was a strong emphasis on continually looking for ways to improve the service people received, and also looking at learning if care fell below the standards the registered manager expected.