Crystal Care

Updated 26 November 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 a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks relating to personal hygiene and eating. Where they provide wider social care we also took this into account.

The service had a manager 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because members of staff from the office often go out and provide personal care, so we needed to ensure someone would be in. Inspection activity started on 6 November 2019 and ended on 7 November 2019.

What we did before the inspection

Our planning took into account information the provider sent us since the last inspection. We also considered information about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse; and we looked at issues raised in complaints and how the service responded to them. We had not requested a PIR. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We contacted and received feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection, we spoke with seven people using the service or their family members about their experience of care on the telephone. We also spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, the registered provider, and four members of staff. We looked at three people’s care records and a selection of other records including quality monitoring records, recruitment and training records for three staff.

Updated 26 November 2019

About the service

Kare Plus Wirral is a domically care agency based in Merseyside which provides personal care to adults in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported 60 people.

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 receive personal care we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People confirmed they received their medications on time. Staff knew how to report safeguarding concerns and staff were recruited safely. Everyone we spoke with told us they felt safe receiving care from Kare Plus Wirral. There were comprehensive risk assessments in place which were tailored to reflect each person’s assessed need. Staff were on time for their calls, and there was travel time built into rotas.

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. People were supported to eat, and drink where needed, and staff were trained, supervised and appraised in line with the policy of the organisation.

People’s diverse needs were catered for and staff treated people with kindness and dignity, and people confirmed they were involved in choices and decisions regarding their care and support. People told us staff were friendly and they enjoyed seeing them and interacting with them.

Care plans were person cantered and reflected the needs of each person. Routines were discussed with people, and they had been involved in completing their care plans. Relatives confirmed communication from staff was good, and staff supported people to make healthcare appointments were needed. People had access to the providers complaints policy. Staff were trained in end of life care.

There were audits and quality checks in place, complete with action plans, which had been improved since the last inspection. The registered manager had reported all concerns to CQC in line with guidance. Staff we spoke with said the culture of the organisation was friendly and relaxed. The provider sought feedback and used this to further develop and improve 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 good. (Report published 21 April 2017)

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. 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.