Cherish Home Care Ltd - Sandwell

Updated 5 April 2022

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of

our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and

regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for

the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector, one medicines 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 care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered provider and staff would be in the office to support the inspection.

This inspection visit took place 15 February 2022. Telephone calls were made on 16 and 17 February 2022.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection process we spoke with eight people and 15 relatives. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager and two care-coordinators.

We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people's care records. We looked at four staff files in

relation to recruitment. We looked at medicine administration records and processes. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management and quality assurance of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at quality assurance records.

Updated 5 April 2022

About the service

Cherish Home Care - Sandwell is a care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 103 people.

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

Systems were in place to protect people from the risk of abuse and harm.

People's support needs were risk assessed and care plans provided staff with the information they needed to manage the identified risk.

The provider carried out recruitment checks to ensure staff were suitable for the role.

Staff had the necessary skills to carry out their role. Staff had regular training opportunities and training

specific to people's individual needs was provided.

Some medication administration records (MARS) had missing signatures and no entries for staff to record people’s allergies or if someone was away due to a hospital admission. Where people required as and when medicines (PRN) staff knew when to administer them and how to record them. Staff had received medication training and checks of their competency to administer medicines safely had been completed.

Infection control policies and procedures were in place to keep people safe.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the

least restrictive way and in their best interests: the policies and systems in the service supported this

practice.

People's individual communication needs were considered to support them to be involved in their care.

The management and care team ensured they supported people in a person-centred way to reflect people's

equality and diverse needs.

The quality of care provided was continually assessed, reviewed and improved. People using the service,

relatives and staff were given the opportunity to provide feedback. Audits took place to ensure the quality of

the service was maintained.

The service worked well with health and other professionals to ensure people's needs were met.

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

Rating at last inspection

At the last inspection visit the registered provider was rated good. The report was published 28 March 2019.

Why we inspected

We received concerns relating to the administration of medicines. A decision was made to inspect the service to look at these concerns.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our

reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.