Background to this inspection
Updated
30 March 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. 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 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 in the community. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults and people with mental health.
The service had a manager who was 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
What we did:
Before the inspection, we reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) submitted by the provider. Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.
We also reviewed other information we held about the service including previous inspection reports and information about important events that the service is legally required to submit to CQC. We also reviewed the provider’s action plan from their previous inspection.
Inspection site visit activity started on 19th February and ended 22nd February 2019. We visited the office location on 19th February 2019 to speak to the registered manager, nominated individual and one staff member. We also review four people’s care records and the provider’s policies and procedures. After the office visit we contacted and received feedback from five people/relatives and four care staff either by telephone or email.
Updated
30 March 2019
About the service: Cotswold Carers Ltd provides personal care and support to people living in their own home. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 10 people who required personal care.
For more details, please see the full report which is on CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
People’s experience of using this service:
• People and their relatives told us they were happy with the service they received and felt safe amongst the staff who supported them.
• People highly praised the caring nature of staff and told us staff were polite and they respected their dignity and privacy. Relatives also confirmed that they were extremely happy with the service provided by Cotswold Carers Ltd.
• People were involved in the assessment of their care and staff always asked for people’s consent before they supported them.
• People were encouraged to retain their independence and make decisions about their care.
• People’s care plans provided staff with the information they needed to support people and the management of people’s individual risks.
• A consistent staff team ensured people received care from staff who were familiar with their needs.
• Improvement had been made to the records relating to the recruitment of staff.
• People received their medicines in a safe and timely manner and were referred to health care services when their needs changed.
• Staff were trained and supported to carry out their role and were knowledgeable about good care practices and their responsibilities to protect people from harm and abuse.
• Improvement had been made in the management and quality assurance systems to monitor the quality of the service. However, improvement was needed in the effectiveness of the monitoring of the management of people’s medicines.
Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated: Requires Improvement (Last report was published on 28 February 2018). Following the last inspection, the provider provided us with an action plan on how they would meet the breach of regulations relating to the recruitment of staff.
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating at the last inspection. We also followed up on the actions taken by the provider to meet the breach of regulations at our previous inspection.
Follow up: The rating of this inspection and the information and intelligence that we receive about the service will determine the timeframe of our next inspection.