Background to this inspection
Updated
10 December 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. 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
This inspection was carried out by an 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 we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 19 November 2019 and ended on 21 November 2019. We visited the office location on 19 November 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used this information to plan our 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.
During the inspection
We spoke with seven people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, training manager, care coordinators and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.
Updated
10 December 2019
About the service
I Care is a domiciliary care service that provides support and personal care to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of our inspection 64 people were receiving support with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and family members spoke positively about the service and told us staff were professional, helpful and kind.
Positive relationships had been developed between staff and people they supported. People said calls to their home were never missed and that staff usually arrived on time.
People using the service and staff were involved in the development of their care through regular reviews meetings.
People told us they had no complaints or were confident they would be listened to if they did. The management team completed checks of completed paperwork by staff regularly and submitted quality audits on a three monthly basis for the local authority; we saw that actions were identified and addressed to bring about improvements.
People's care records provided information about individual backgrounds and their support needs, to guide staff effectively. The service worked with family members to maintain people's health and wellbeing.
Staff had been recruited safely. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed to support people. Vacant shifts and calls because of absence were covered from within the staff team. Agency staff were not used.
Staff received a comprehensive induction and regular training and support. Staff told us they enjoyed working for the service.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This service was registered with us on 20/12/2018 and this is the first 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 we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.