Background to this inspection
Updated
7 January 2021
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. 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 team consisted of two inspectors 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.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 7 December and ended on 14 December 2020. We visited the office location on 7 December 2020.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We requested feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 17 people; 13 were users of the service and 4 were family members. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager and care workers. We reviewed a range of records associated with staff recruitment, training and supervision. We looked at ten records about people’s care and support which included risk assessments and information to support people to take their medicines as prescribed. A variety of records relating to the management of the service including audits, policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
7 January 2021
About the service
Care Matters Teesside (Homecare) Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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 190 people received the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Pre-employment checks ensured suitable staff were employed. Any identified risks were managed with decisions recorded. People felt safe with the staff who provided their care.
People had received assessments of their needs to ensure the service was suitable. Records included associated information where known risks were evident. Staff used this information to provide safe care for people, and to ensure they remained safe whilst in people’s homes.
People were protected from known risks from infection. This included those associated with Coronavirus. Routine infection prevention and control practices had been reviewed and updated. Staff clearly understood when and where to wear personal protective equipment.
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.
People and their relatives spoke positively about the personal care they received. People received their care and support from regular staff who understood their needs. Checks were completed to ensure people were happy with the staff who visited, and the service provided.
Staff received safeguarding training and were clear on how and when to raise their concerns. The provider had embedded systems and processes which were followed to investigate any concerns. Where appropriate, actions were implemented to keep people safe.
People confirmed they received their medicines from suitably skilled staff, safely as prescribed. Medicines records were maintained, and associated checks completed. An action plan was in place to review the medicine audits to ensure any required actions were clearly documented.
The provider had implemented a range of checks to maintain and improve standards of service. Where areas of improvement were identified, action plans were in place and reviewed for their effectiveness.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 27 January 2020) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating
We carried out an announced inspection of this service on 9 and 10 January 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve in safe care and treatment and good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Care Matters Teesside (Homecare) Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.