A Quality Care Service Limited

Updated 8 April 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

This inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered manager was also registered as the nominated individual. A nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration with the CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke over the telephone with three people and three relatives who used the service about their experience of the care provided. During the inspection process we spoke with four staff, including the registered manager who gave their feedback about the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included sampling two people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and quality assurance reports, policies and procedures and surveys.

Updated 8 April 2020

About the service

A Quality Care Service Limited provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service, including a ‘live in’ care workers service (staff support people 24 hours a day, seven days a week), to both older and younger adults.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The provider had systems in place to manage risks and keep people safe from avoidable harm. Staff followed good practice guidance to prevent the spread of infection and gave people their medicines safely.

People liked the staff that cared for them. Staff were kind and caring and made sure people’s privacy and dignity was respected. People, and their relatives were involved in making decisions on the care they wanted. Their preference for how staff delivered their care was recorded in their care plans.

Staff received training, supervision and support so that they could do their job well. Staff enjoyed working at A Quality Care Service Limited and told us that they would be happy to have a member of their family receiving 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.

Systems to monitor how well the service was running were carried out. Complaints and concerns were followed up to make sure action was taken to rectify the issue. People were asked their view of the service and action was taken to change any areas they were not happy with.

The service was well managed by a registered manager. The registered manager was passionate about giving people a high-quality service and ensuring that staff were support and skilled to deliver the service effectively.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 28/02/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration with the CQC.

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.