Archived: SureCare Bolton

Updated 29 June 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.

The inspection took place on 21 and 22 May 2018 and was carried out by an adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of this type of service or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The expert by experience made telephone calls to people who used the service and family members of people receiving support from the service. In line with our inspection methodology we gave short notice of the inspection visit. We gave the provider approximately 24 hours notice of our inspection. This was because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in the office to assist us with our inspection. We also needed to give sufficient time for the provider to contact people and ask their permission for us to speak to them on the telephone.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. We contacted the local authority commissioning team who were responsible for organising and commissioning the service on behalf of individuals and their families. This was to seek their views on how they felt the service operated. We also reviewed the statutory notifications the CQC had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send to us without delay.

During our visit we spoke with the registered manager and finance director, who were both owners of the SureCare Bolton franchise. We also spoke with three care assistants, the service trainer and a member of the office team. On the day of our inspection we visited three people in their own homes to ask their opinion of the service. We also spoke on the telephone with four people who used the service and eight relatives/carers.

As part of the inspection we reviewed eight people’s care records. These included their care plans and risk assessments. We also reviewed other information about the service, including training and supervision records; audits; medicines administration records (MARs) and four staff recruitment files.

Updated 29 June 2018

SureCare Bolton is a domiciliary care agency which provides care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. It is a franchise of the nationwide care provider SureCare. SureCare Bolton offers a variety of services, including assistance with personal care, support with medicines and domestic tasks. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 94 people receiving support from a team of 45 full and part-time care assistants.

We carried out this inspection on 21 and 22 May 2018. The inspection was announced to ensure that the registered manager or other responsible person was available to assist with our inspection. This was the first Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of this service.

The service had a registered manager who was present during the inspection. They had registered with the CQC in June 2017. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.

At this inspection we identified some concerns around the safe management of medicines. We have made a recommendation about this.

People who used the service and relatives were complimentary about the care and support provided by SureCare Bolton. They commented that staff were caring, considerate and respectful.

Recruitment checks had been carried out to ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Staff had been trained to carry out their roles and were regularly supervised.

There were sufficient staff to provide care to the people being supported by the service. Work rotas were arranged so that people were generally supported by a regular carer or carers, who were familiar with their needs. Staff used the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), such as disposable aprons and gloves when carrying out personal care tasks. This protected people from the risk of cross infection.

Risk assessments, both environmental and personal had been completed to minimise risks to staff and people who used the service. Care documentation was detailed and person-centred.

The registered manager showed good leadership skills and staff told us they worked well together as a team. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service, such as audits, feedback from care reviews and an annual survey.