Archived: Simply Carers Ltd

Updated 8 August 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the registered manager was often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they, or a delegated representative, would be in.

We inspected the service on 23 July 2018. One inspector carried out the inspection.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed information we held about the provider, in particular notifications about incidents, accidents, safeguarding matters and any deaths. We spoke with the registered manager and the provider about the work they did and to gather their views of the service.

We reviewed a range of documents and records including; one care record, staff record and a sample of policies and procedures kept by the service.

Updated 8 August 2018

We inspected Simply Carers Limited on 23 July 2018. This was an announced inspection. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the registered manager was often out of the office on business or providing care. We needed to be sure that they, or a delegated representative, would be in.

Simply Carers Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and domestic support to people living in their own homes in the community. As a provider of bespoke care packages to people there were periods of inactivity. At the time of inspection they had one person who had recently been using them. Not everyone using Simply Carers Limited receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

Simply Carers Limited was registered with the Care Quality Commission in October 2017. This comprehensive inspection was the first inspection carried out on the service.

A registered manager was in post. 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.

Care documentation showed that people had had a positive experience in receiving care and support. Care records were personalised to people’s individual needs and responsive to any changes that people wished to make.

At the time of inspection the registered manager was also the main care worker. However, the service was recruiting and we saw that policies and procedures were in place to ensure the service recruited staff who would provide safe care.

Staff members had been safely recruited and had received an induction to the service. There were systems in place to safeguard people from abuse and to ensure that staff were appropriately trained.

Staff had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) for the prevention and control of infection.

Staff confirmed they had received training, including training in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and they understood the importance of gaining people’s consent before assisting them.

The service completed assessments of people’s needs and these were used to create the care plan for each person. The service kept people’s needs under review and made changes as required.

The service promoted a culture that was person centred, open and inclusive and had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and the experience of people who used it.