17 February 2017
During a routine inspection
I Care is a service that provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, 63 people were receiving care from the service.
The service does not require a manager to be registered as the provider is an individual. The service is managed on a day to day basis by the provider and two deputy managers.
Improvements were required to ensure that effective systems were in place to ensure that people received their medicines when they needed them and that the required checks had taken place prior to staff working for the service. This was to ensure they were of the appropriate character to work within care.
People were cared for by kind, caring and compassionate staff. The provider tried to ensure that people saw the same staff on a regular basis to help them build and maintain caring and meaningful relationships. People told us this was important to them. People were treated with dignity and their diverse needs were respected.
The staff knew the people they cared for well and this meant they were able to provide people with care based on their individual needs and preferences. There were enough staff working at the service to enable them to do this. People were able to make decisions about their own care and the service was responsive to their changing needs and requests.
Staff were aware of how to keep people safe and they had received enough training to give them the skills and knowledge to provide people with effective care. Staff competence had been regularly assessed to ensure their skills and knowledge were kept up to date.
People were protected from the risk of abuse and where it was part of their care package, received support to eat and drink enough to meet their needs. They were also supported with their health when necessary.
The staff and provider listened to people and improved the quality of care they received in response to any concerns raised. Good leadership and direction was provided to the staff which meant they knew what was expected of them.