Supreme Care Services Limited

Supreme Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats it provides a service to older adults some of whom have physical disabilities, mental health needs and are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection 500 adults were receiving support with personal care from the service. the majority of people had their care funded and organised by the local authority.

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

This was a targeted inspection that considered if people were safeguarded from the risk of financial abuse and harm. Based on our inspection we found that the provider had effective systems in place to protect people from the risk of abuse.

Staff understood the different types of abuse and who they should raise any concerns with. Staff received training and there were regular updates from the management team to remind staff of their responsibilities.

We did not speak with any people who used the service as part of this inspection.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good published (05 May 2022).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted by information we received regarding people been at risk of financial harm. This targeted inspection examined those potential risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the Safe section of this full report. The overall rating for the service has not changed following this targeted inspection and remains good.

We use targeted inspections to check concerns. They do not look at an entire key question, only the part of the key question we are specifically concerned about. Targeted inspections do not change the rating from the previous inspection. This is because they do not assess all areas of a key question.

You can read the report from our last inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Supreme Care Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Supreme Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults some of whom have physical disabilities, mental health needs and are living with dementia. At the time of our inspection 520 adults were receiving support with personal care from this service. The majority of people had their care funded and organised by the local authority.

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

People told us they felt safe, and they received support from regular staff. Staff understood how to report safeguarding concerns. We made a recommendation to the provider to review their employment practices to ensure they were working within their policies and procedures.

Risks had been assessed correctly and provided staff with clear information on how to care for people. Staff administered people's medicines in a safe way. The provider had processes in place for the recording and investigation of incidents and accidents. People said staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and staff confirmed they had access to PPE when they needed it.

People were informed when their care visits would be taking place. If staff were running late people were alerted by office staff.

Detailed assessments of a person's needs were completed before they started to receive care and support. The care plans described the care and support a person required. People were supported to eat a healthy diet and to access healthcare professionals when required.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and the provider supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the application of the policies and systems supported good practice. Staff received the training and supervision they required to provide them with the knowledge and skills to provide care in a safe and effective way.

People told us they felt the agency was well managed and if they had any concerns or complaints, they knew who to raise these with and they were dealt with.

The provider operated effective quality monitoring systems and sought feedback from people using the service. Spot checks took place to ensure staff were working within the policies and procedures of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good published (29 March 2019).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed to seek assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This inspection took place on 20 February and 1 March 2019 and was announced. 48 hours before the inspection we contacted the service to let them know that we will be coming to inspect them. We wanted to make sure that the management team would be available on the day of inspection.

This service has not previously been inspected.

The service had a registered manager who was on leave at the time of inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 that communication with the agency staff was not always effective and that they found it difficult to get their enquiries answered in good time. We made a recommendation about this.

Staff followed the provider’s procedures if they noticed people being at risk to abuse or when incidents and accidents took place. There were appropriate risk management plans in place to mitigate the potential risks to people. Staff had to undertake appropriate checks before they were employed by the service. Staff helped people to manage their medicines where they required support to do so. Although systems were in place to encourage staff to adhere to infection control procedures, some staff had not always wore uniforms. People told us that covering staff had not always arrived for their calls on time and we found that the management team had made improvements in this area to address this concern.

People had healthcare professionals involved to guide staff on the support required to meet their health needs. People made choices about the food they wanted to eat. Staff were regularly supervised by their line manager and had support to discuss their professional goals. Systems were in place to monitor staffs training needs. However, some staff lacked knowledge about the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 principles and how this act was applied in practice.

People had complimented staff that supported them and described them as kind, caring and friendly. People told us they made choices about their care and support needs and that their views were listened to. Staff provided support that was respectful towards people’s privacy, culture and religion. Staff enhanced people’s independence and encouraged people to take part in the activities of their choice.

People’s care needs were assessed and staff were provided with sufficient level of information relating to people’s health conditions and day to day care needs. Where appropriate, care records included information about people’s end of life wishes. Systems were in place to gather people’s feedback about the service delivery. People had their communication needs identified and the support they required to understand information which helped staff to have conversations with people.

Systems were in place to monitor the care being delivered for people and actions were taken to improve where necessary. The staff team were regularly reminded of what was required of them in their role and took responsibility for providing good care for people. Staff were encouraged to socialise with people to address the issue of social isolation.