We carried out a review of the data available to us about Chelmscare Ltd 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 Chelmscare Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Chelmscare Borehamwood is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people living in their own homes in the community.
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. At the time of the inspection forty people were being supported with a regulated activity of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were positive about the standard of care and support they received from Chelmscare Borehamwood. People felt safe and staff knew how to keep people safe and how to report any concerns. One person told us "Yes, I definitely feel safe. They are very good." There were enough staff to meet people’s needs. The recruitment procedure was in the process of being reviewed to ensure it was consistently robust. New staff completed induction training before they started work. People were supported to take their medicines safely. People were protected from the risk and spread of infection. Learning from accidents and incidents was shared with staff.
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. Peoples consent was obtained before staff provided care. Staff supported people if required to eat and drink sufficient amounts to maintain their health and to access health care services and professional when required.
People liked the staff that cared for them. One person told us "They are wonderful people, I do look forward to them coming." People told us that staff were "kind, caring and thoughtful". They told us that staff supported them to achieve their individual lifestyles. People were involved in developing and reviewing their support and their care planning. Staff were respectful of people's privacy, whilst maintaining their dignity. Staff worked well as a team and were committed to improving the care experience for all the people they supported.
People were aware of how to make a complaint. We saw that only minor concerns had been raised and addressed by the registered manager in a timely way and to the satisfaction of the complainant. People’s views on the service were sought and they felt their views were taken into account.
The registered manager and quality assurance manager carried out a range of audits and checks to ensure the quality was maintained and improved where necessary. People, relatives and staff all felt supported and valued. One person told us, "The management are extremely inclusive and think nothing of providing help at short notice." The staff team worked in partnership with other professionals and organisations to help people achieve their desired outcomes.
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 rated as requires improvement. (Published on 10 August 2018)
At this inspection we found the service had improved and achieved an overall rating of good.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the latest 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.
Chelmscare is a domiciliary care agency who provides support to people living in their own home in the community. On the day of our inspection 34 people were being supported with the regulated activity of personal care.
The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.
We found that the provider did not have robust systems in place to ensure people were kept safe. The recruitment process was inconsistent and checks were not always completed before staff started working with people.
The provider did not always follow their own safeguarding process which meant people could have been at risk of harm. Staff had received training in safeguarding but their understanding of the process was not tested by the registered manager.
There were some risk management arrangements in place to help keep people safe, but these were not consistent and were not always current. Staffing levels were not always sufficient to meet people’s needs. People told us overall, they felt safe being supported by staff from Chelmscare.
People were supported to take their medicines and staff had received training. However, they did not routinely have their competencies checked. Care plans were mainly of a tick box nature and lacked personalisation. People, were not always involved in the development and review of their care plan.
Staff received an induction to the service when their employment commenced and completed some refresher training and updates. Staff were not consistently supported in their roles through individual supervision or attendance at team meetings.
People were assisted to eat and drink sufficient amounts to help maintain their health and wellbeing. People were supported to make and attend medical appointments and access a range of healthcare professionals.
Staff requested peoples consent before they provided support. The management and staff worked in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) principles.
People and their relatives told us staff were kind and caring. Staff were aware of people`s likes, dislikes and preferences and overall delivered care and support in accordance with people`s wishes. However, people told us there were a lot of staff changes which impacted on people’s ability to build meaningful relationships with staff.
The service was not always responsive to people`s changing needs. There was a complaints process in place but no concerns or complains had been received.
There was a lack of management overview at the service. There were no systems and processes in place to monitor the overall quality and safety of the service. The registered manager did not always inform CQC of accidents or incidents which they are required to report. There was no evidence of learning from events.
People’s confidential information was stored securely to ensure it remained confidential.