Background to this inspection
Updated
31 October 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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert 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.
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 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 provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 25 September and ended on 27 September 2019. We visited the office location on 25 September and people and relatives, with their consent, were contacted by telephone on the 27 September.
What we did before the inspection
The provider did not complete the required Provider Information Return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about the service, what it does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account in making our judgements in this report.
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the Local Authority, professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with five people who used the service, five relatives to seek their views about their experiences of the care provided. We spoke with seven care staff, including seniors, the office manager, staff trainer, the care co-ordinator and finance and business operations and marketing manager. The registered manager who is also the registered provider was not available during the days we were on site. However, they spoke with us post inspection.
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two 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.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found and we looked at training data.
Updated
31 October 2019
About the service
Care Affair Solihull Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to 41 people living in their own homes.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to 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
The provider monitored the service to ensure it continued to provide a good quality care. However, quality monitoring audits had not identified the issues we found during the inspection.
All the people, relatives, and staff we spoke with said the service provided good quality care. The culture of the service was open and honest and the provider, management team and staff were approachable.
Staff were knowledgeable and kind. People had regular staff who they got to know well. People and relatives told us how friendly and caring the staff were. Staff enjoyed their work and got on well with the people they supported who they valued and treated with dignity.
Staff provided responsive and flexible care to people in line with their preferences and choices. If people communicated non-verbally staff knew how to engage with them.
People were safe using the service. Staff knew how to protect people from harm and reduce the risk of accidents and incidents. The service was sufficiently staffed to ensure people's needs were met. Staff supported people with their medicines and this was done safely. Staff understood how to prevent and control the spread of infection.
People were assessed before using the service to ensure their needs could be met. Assessments addressed people's physical and health needs, their cultural and language needs, and what was important to them. Staff worked with GPs, district nurses, and other health and social care professionals to ensure people's health and social care needs were met.
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
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 07 February 2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has changed the service to Care Affair Solihull Ltd. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected
The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns raised by the local authority in relation to the management of the service. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.
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.