First Class Care Services Ltd

Updated 16 March 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, 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 was completed by one Inspector.

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. There was also a ‘service manager’ who looked after the day to day running of the supported living scheme.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service two days’ notice of the inspection site visit to give the registered manager time to seek people’s consent for us to contact them and to make arrangements to contact staff.

Inspection site visit activity started on 27 February 2019 and ended on the same day. We visited the office location on 27 February to see the registered manager and the office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we looked at the provider information report (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with a person’s relative; two members of staff; and the registered manager. We looked at two people’s care records, three staff recruitment files, and competency records. We also looked at audits and quality assurance reports.

Updated 16 March 2019

About the service:

First Class Care is a domiciliary care agency which means it supports people who live in their own house or flat. At the time of the inspection, First Class Care was supporting two people.

People’s experience of using this service:

We were unable to speak with the people who received support from First Class Care as they did not communicate in ways which we could understand. We spoke with one of the people’s relatives. They spoke positively about the care their relative received. They told us this was because the management team listened to them, and created a personalised plan to meet their relative’s needs. They found that staff treated their relative with respect and listened to what they wanted.

We found that people’s risk assessments and care plans were detailed. They fully explored the risks which people could be exposed to. Plans were in place for staff to follow to manage and respond to these needs and risks. Staff were aware of these plans and had regular contact with the registered manager and the management team in managing a person’s needs.

Staff were positive about their training and induction to their work. They felt fully supported by the management team, and believed the training they received was relevant and of good quality. Staff said they felt confident approaching the management team. Staff received regular competency checks to assure the registered manager they were functioning well in their work.

The registered manager regularly sought feedback from a person’s relative and there were plans to expand on this as the service grew. We saw that reviews took place and there were conversations about how to improve the support a person had.

There were some areas in relation to how the service was managed which could be improved upon. There were some short falls in the audits completed by the management team. When we spoke with the registered manager about this, they told us that the service’s auditing systems would be more robust in the future.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the service’s first inspection.

Why we inspected:

We inspected First Class Care as part of a scheduled planned inspection.

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 any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.