Archived: A Star Care Services

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.