Background to this inspection
Updated
22 December 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.
This inspection took place on 21 and 22 November 2018. We gave the service two days' notice of the inspection because we wanted to visit people in their homes and we needed support from the registered manager to arrange this. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 248 people.
On the 21 November 2018 we visited four people in their homes to ask their opinions about the care they received and look at their care records. Whilst out on visits we were accompanied by two senior care workers and met three care workers. On 21 November 2018 we also met three relatives and spoke over the telephone with 14 people who used the service and six relatives.
On the 22 November 2018 we visited the office location to see the registered manager and area manager, interview staff and review care records and policies and procedures relating to the service. We interviewed eight staff including, care workers, senior care workers and care coordinators. The inspection team consisted of two inspectors, and two experts 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. The experts by experience had experience of supporting and caring for young and older people.
We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. 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.
Prior to the inspection visit we gathered information from many sources. We looked at the information received about the service from notifications sent to the Care Quality Commission by the registered manager. We also spoke with the local authority commissioners, contracts officers and safeguarding and Healthwatch (Rotherham). Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
Updated
22 December 2018
We undertook an announced inspection of Careline (Rotherham) on 21 and 22 November 2018. We gave the registered manager short notice that we would be coming because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we wanted to be sure the registered manager was available.
Careline (Rotherham) is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to young and older adults in the Rotherham and Doncaster area. The agency office is in Rotherham.
This is the services first inspection since they registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2018. The service was previously registered with Ark Home Healthcare Rotherham. Staff and service users from Ark Home Healthcare Rotherham transferred over to the new provider, Careline (Rotherham). Ark Home Healthcare Rotherham was last inspected in January 2018 and rated good.
The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.
People and their relatives told us they felt safe using the service. The registered manager and provider understood how to protect people from abuse and potential harm. There were policies and procedures in place which helped to keep people safe and manage identified risks to people's care.
Staff were trained and regularly assessed as competent to assist people to take their medicines. Where mistakes or omissions occurred, managers dealt with this appropriately. For example, staff were stopped from administering medicines until they were re-trained.
The provider's recruitment process included pre-employment checks being completed prior to staff starting work. This helped to ensure staff were suitable to support people who used the service.
People said staff used protective clothing when needed, such as disposable gloves and aprons when providing personal care tasks. This helped minimise the risk of infection.
People said care staff stayed long enough to provide the care they needed and staff stayed for the required amount of time, unless people told them to leave early. People and relatives said care call times were consistent and care was provided by a regular group of familiar staff.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The registered manager was aware of current procedures and guidance for best practice, and this was evident in the policies in use at the service.
People told us they received care from staff who were kind, caring and considerate to their needs and they were treated respectfully and with dignity. Relatives were confident their family members were looked after well.
People's care needs were regularly reviewed and senior staff completed unannounced spot observations when care staff supported people.
People knew how to complain. Information about making a complaint was available for people in the ‘service user guide’, which was left at people’s homes.
The registered manager and provider sought people's feedback to check the care provided was what people needed and expected.
The registered manager demonstrated values based leadership which was caring and compassionate. There were established quality assurance systems and audits in place to monitor the service and make continual improvement.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.