Support Carers Ltd

Updated 22 January 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team: The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Service and service type: Support Carers Ltd. is a domiciliary care service. Staff deliver personal care support to people living in their own homes. Services are provided to people who have learning or physical disabilities, who are living with dementia, have sensory impairments, mental health conditions and to both younger and older people.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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. The registered manager of Support Carers Ltd was also the nominated individual.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is a small service and the manager was often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available. We also needed to give the provider time to contact people using the service to let them know we would be contacting them for feedback about the service they receive. Inspection site visit activity started was on 11 December 2018. We visited the office location to see the registered manager and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did: Before we inspected we looked at information we already had about the provider. We reviewed notifications we had received from the service. Notifications are reports about specific events that the provider must tell us about by law. We reviewed the provider information return, (PIR). This contains evidence about the service and is submitted annually. The information in the PIR helps us in planning our inspection.

During the inspection we looked at five staff recruitment files, five peoples care records and health documents relating to health and safety, risk assessment and other aspects of the service. We spoke with 13 people who used the service and three care staff, the care coordinator and the registered manager.

We contacted five health and social care professionals for feedback about the provider and received one response.

Updated 22 January 2019

What life is like for people using this service:

People told us they felt safe receiving support from the service. The provider ensured that risks were assessed and minimised to ensure that people received safe care and support. People received safe support with their medicines from appropriately trained staff. Staff could recognise signs and symptoms of different types of abuse and would not hesitate to report concerns to the registered manager.

Peoples needs were assessed before their care commenced and care plans were regularly reviewed to reflect appropriate and chosen person-centred care. Staff received supervision from the registered manager and team meetings were held and documented for staff who were unable to attend. Staff received regular training updates following a comprehensive induction. Staff were aware of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and assumed people had capacity unless assessed as not.

Staff spoke of people they supported with respect and affection and people told us they felt cared for and respected. People were supported to maintain their independence and staff supported them to complete tasks they were unable to complete themselves. Care plans considered how best to communicate with people, especially those who were non-verbal. Staff ensured they obtained consent before providing support to people.

The service had received no formal complaints however people told us they would either speak to their support worker or phone the registered manager and any concerns would be addressed immediately. Staff told us they felt comfortable when supporting someone at the end of their life and that they were supported by the registered manager when they did so.

We received positive feedback about the registered manager and their team of support workers. There was an audit system in place and the provider ensured they remained current in their knowledge of social care. People told us they would recommend the service to friends and relatives.

Support Carers Limited met the characteristics of Good in all areas, more information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: Support Carers Ltd were rated Good at their last inspection, (published 30 December 2015). In August 2017 The Care Quality Commission (CQC) re-registered the provider at their new business address. There has not been any change in ownership of Support Carers Limited, just an adjustment to the business address. As there has not been any change of ownership or leadership, this report references the last report published about the service. When we published the last inspection report we found the provider to be in breach of one of the regulations. We checked to see if improvements had been met and found the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

About the service: Support Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. When we inspected they were providing support to 55 people.

Why we inspected: This is a scheduled/planned inspection based on the service being registered at their current address for one year.

Follow up: We will follow up on this inspection as per our re-inspection programme, and through ongoing monitoring of information received about the service.