Background to this inspection
Updated
11 September 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 homes.
The service had a registered manager, who was also the provider. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
Our inspection was announced. 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 would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed relevant information that we had about the service. The service completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). A PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what it does well and any improvements they plan to make. We spoke with three people, two relatives and two staff. We also spoke to health and social care professionals that the service worked with. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the provider, care coordinator and quality assurance manager. We reviewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We reviewed five care plans, which included risk assessments and five staff files, which included pre-employment checks. We looked at other documents such as training and quality assurance records.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence we found such as looking at training data. We also spoke with two staff.
Updated
11 September 2019
About the service
This service is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham. The service provides personal care to adults 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 our inspection, the service provided personal care to 15 people.
People’s experience of using this service
Since our last inspection on 16 July 2018, improvements had been made on risk assessments and quality assurance processes. Care plans contained suitable and sufficient risk assessments to effectively manage risks and keep people safe. Audits were being carried out to ensure people always received safe, high quality care.
People and relatives told us that people were safe when supported by staff. Pre-employment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to support people. People and relatives told us staff were punctual and systems were in place to monitor time keeping. Systems were in place for infection control and to learn from lessons following incidents.
Staff had been trained to perform their roles effectively. 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.
People received care from staff who were kind and compassionate. Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. Staff had developed positive relationships with the people they supported. They understood people’s needs, preferences, and what was important to them.
Care plans were person centred and included people’s support needs. Care plans had been reviewed regularly to ensure they were accurate. Complaints had been managed in a timely manner.
Systems were in place to obtain feedback from people and relatives. People, relatives and staff were positive about the management of the service.
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 requires improvement (published 1 September 2018). We identified one breach of Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 relating to Safe Care and Treatment in relation to risk assessments.
The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection, we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the rating of the last inspection.
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.