ICare Solutions Stockport Limited

Updated 14 March 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector. Following the visit to the location office, an Expert by Experience completed telephone calls to people and their relatives. 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.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we wanted to be sure there would be people at the service to speak with us. Inspection activity started on 14 February 2023 and ended on 27 February 2023. We visited the location’s office on 14 February 2023.

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 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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records. We looked at 4 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. We spoke with 6 people who used the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 8 members of staff including the registered manager, the care co-ordinator and care staff.

Updated 14 March 2023

About the service

ICare Solutions Stockport Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 70 people receiving personal care. 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

We found improvements to the way staff recruitment, safeguarding and service oversight were managed at the service. Staff had undergone safe recruitment checks prior to working at the service. There was a safeguarding policy and procedure in place and staff knew how to identify and report any concerns. We were assured the service employed safe and effective infection prevention and control practices. A medicines policy was in place. Staff had received medicines training and regular competency checks.

Staff underwent an induction and received a programme of training, supervision and competency checks. People were supported to access healthcare and the service facilitated appropriate and timely referrals to other agencies and professionals.

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.

People received care and support from mostly kind and caring staff. Staff we spoke with talked about the people they supported in a kind and compassionate manner. People were treated with dignity and respect. We have made one recommendation about staff language barriers and a one recommendation about people’s gender preferences.

Care plans were detailed and person-centred and written with involvement of people and those important to them. Any changes were reviewed and updated to ensure plans reflected current need. Staff told us they knew people well and were aware of people’s needs and their individual preferences for care. We fed back to the registered manager some concerns raised by staff about their ability to access care information on their mobile phones.

Management oversight of the service had improved since the last inspection. The registered manager had addressed the issues from the last inspection. Management systems, such as audits and checks, were regularly used to monitor and improve 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 and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 28 June 2021). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of safe care delivery. This inspection examined those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe and well-led sections of this full report.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for ICare Solutions Stockport on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made one recommendation about staff language barriers and a one recommendation about people’s gender preferences.

Follow up

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