JACS Care Offices

Updated 14 July 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

In line with our new approach we gave short period notice of this inspection and explained what was involved under the new methodology.

Inspection activity took place on 31 May 2022, 1 June 2022 and 15 June 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at all the information we held about the provider, which included information they provided us when they were registered. On this occasion, the provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

We spoke with one person's relative, two care workers and the registered manager. We reviewed records relating to the care provided, staffing and the management of the service.

Updated 14 July 2022

About the service

JACS Care Office provides personal care support to people in their own home. At the time of our inspection one person was receiving support. 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.

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

People received safe, considerate and high-quality care. Relatives were complimentary about the staff and the relationships they had built with their family members. One relative told us, “The care is invaluable.” They also said staff were friendly, polite and provided care in line with their family members wishes and preferences. People and their relatives felt informed and involved in their care. Staff turned up on time and stayed the required length of time.

Staff kept up to date with government guidance around infection prevention and control practices and staff wore personal protective equipment (PPE) when supporting people. 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 were supported by staff that were kind, caring and took an interest in people's lives. Staff spent time speaking with people and understood what was important to people. People were supported by staff to make their own decisions about their care and support. Staff spoke positively about people and about spending time in people's company. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible.

The registered manager was aware of their requirements in line with their CQC registration. They had processes in place to monitor and improve the quality of service delivery, and regularly liaised with the person, relatives and staff to obtain their views and experiences of service delivery. The registered manager attended the local authority's provider forum to enable them to stay up to date with best practice guidance.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 8 June 2017 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.