Background to this inspection
Updated
6 March 2020
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 was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 4 February and ended on 5 February 2020. We visited the office location on 4 February 2020..
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed the last inspection report and the action plan the provider was asked to submit to show how they would meet legal requirements.
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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We met with the registered manager. We looked at records of care, support and medicines management for the person who used the service. We looked at records of recruitment, training and supervision for three members of staff. We reviewed policies and procedures and audits of the service. We spoke with a person using the service.
Updated
6 March 2020
About the service
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there was one person using the service.
People’s experience of using this service
People were treated with care and compassion. The person using the service told us they consistently received care from the same care worker who knew them well. The provider ensured that people’s communication needs and decision-making abilities were assessed and supported. People received support in line with their cultural needs.
There were clear procedures to safeguard people from abuse and the provider carried out appropriate checks to ensure staff were suitable for their roles. Risks to people’s wellbeing were assessed and reviewed regularly.
Staff received enough training and supervision to carry out their roles and the service regularly checked staff were competent. The service assessed people’s care needs in detail and ensure people received the right support to stay well and eat and drink enough. 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; however, the policies and systems in the service did not always support this practice. This was because there was not a clear process to follow in the event people lacked capacity to make decisions.
Care was planned to meet people’s needs, including their cultural and religious needs, and these were reviewed regularly. Care workers did all that was needed and kept accurate records of this. People were supported to go out and do activities if they wanted to. There was a clear process for making complaints, but no-one had had cause to.
Managers visited people regularly to make sure they were satisfied with their care and engaged well with staff. Audit systems were in place to make sure care was of a high quality, but we found one area where this needed to develop to ensure regulations were still followed if the service grew in size.
We have made two recommendations about improving how the provider assesses people’s capacity to make decisions and about auditing personnel records.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection:
We last inspected this service on 15 May 2019. We did not have enough evidence at the time to rate the service.
At our last inspection we found a breach of regulations concerning how the provider managed medicines. At this inspection we found the provider was meeting this regulation; there were suitable processes to manage medicines safely.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the last inspection’s findings.
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.