We carried out a review of the data available to us about Personalized Care on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Personalized Care, you can give feedback on this service.
Personalized Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder living 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. There were seven people receiving personal care at the time of our inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Person centred care was embedded in practice. The aims and objectives of the service were shared by managers and staff. The culture was open and inclusive, and care and support was focused on people who used the service. This meant that outcomes for people were good. People lived fulfilled lives and had their independence and autonomy promoted.
Relatives and staff we spoke with all told us people received exceptionally responsive care.
The service was extremely well led. The provider and manager were involved in every aspect of care provision and were supportive and accessible to people, relatives and staff.
People, relatives and staff were fully engaged in service development and asked for their ideas and feedback and these were acted on. There were effective quality assurance systems designed to continually improve the service.
Care and support was planned and delivered around the person so their individual needs and preferences were met. People were active and could follow their interests and hobbies. People were encouraged to have aspirations and were supported to set new goals and encouraged to continually learn and develop new skills.
Staff had the training and skills required to meet people’s needs. Staff were employed for person specific roles and matched with people’s interests and personalities where possible. Managers and staff placed great importance on effective communication. They carried out comprehensive and detailed assessments of people’s needs until they understood people’s communication needs.
People were safe because staff knew people well and understood their behaviours as attempts to communicate unmet needs. Staff were trained to anticipate distressed or risky behaviour and knew how to prevent this through activity and distraction techniques. Risk was identified and managed. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff managed people’s medicines in a safe way and supported people to access the healthcare and support services they required.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Managers and staff were highly motivated and compassionate. They were proud to work at the service and proud of the difference they had made to people’s quality of life and of the achievements of the people they supported.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection – Good (Published 3 March 2017 )
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.
The service had a registered manager. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The person using the service that we spoke with told us they felt safe with the staff team from Personalized Care Limited and they were looked after well. The relative of another person using the service told us that their relation was safe with the staff members who supported them.
The staff team had received training on how to keep people safe and they knew what to do if they felt that someone was at risk of harm.
The management team were aware of their responsibilities for keeping people safe from abuse and avoidable harm. This included reporting any concerns to the local safeguarding authority.
Risk assessments had been completed. This was so that the management team could identify and minimise the risks associated with people’s care and support.
Recruitment checks had been carried out when new members of staff had been employed. This was to check that they were suitable to work at the service. Support workers had been suitably inducted into the service and relevant training had been provided to enable them to appropriately support the people using the service.
Support workers we spoke with felt supported by the management team and they told us there was always someone available to speak with should they need any help or advice.
People's care and support needs had been identified and a plan of care had been developed. The support workers we spoke with were aware of people’s care and support needs because appropriate plans of care were in place which included people’s personal preferences.
People using the service were supported with their nutritional and health care needs and were supported to access health services when they needed them.
People were always asked for their consent before their care and support was offered. Support workers had received training on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and both they and the management team, understood its principles.
Support workers were aware of their responsibilities when supporting people with their medicines. Training in medicine management had been provided and the necessary records were being kept.
People told us that the staff team were kind and caring. They told us that they were provided with choices when they were being supported and their care and support was provided in a way that they preferred.
There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to meet the needs of the people using the service. People received regular support workers who arrived on time and stayed for the right amount of time.
People using the service and their relatives knew what to do if they were unhappy with the service they received. They knew who to speak with and were confident that any concerns would be dealt with appropriately.
People had the opportunity to be involved in how the service was run. They were asked for their opinions of the service on a regular basis. This was through visits to people’s homes and through the use of surveys.
The management team monitored the service being provided on an ongoing basis. Audits on the documentation held had been completed and checks on the equipment used to maintain people's safety had been carried out. A business continuity plan was available for the management team to follow in the event of an emergency or untoward event.
The management team were aware of their registration responsibilities including notifying the Care Quality Commission of significant incidents that occurred at the service.