Caremark (North Herts & Stevenage)

Updated 15 May 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Caremark (North Herts & Stevenage) is a domiciliary (home care) care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. Caremark provides care and support to older people, younger adults, people living with dementia, people with a physical disability and people with sensory impairments. At the time of the inspection there were 42 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

Not everyone using Caremark receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

The service has a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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. The provider had a new manager starting in June, we were told they will apply with CQC to be registered for this location.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection site visit because we needed to make sure that the manager would be available.

The inspection started on 24 April 2019 and ended on 30 April 2019. The day before we visited the office, we contacted staff and relatives by telephone to explore their experiences. We visited the office location on 2019.

Before the inspection we gathered and reviewed information that we received from the provider on the provider information return (PIR). This is a document that the provider sent us saying how they were meeting the regulations, identified any key achievements and any plans for improvement. We also reviewed all information received from external sources such as the local authority and reviews of the service.

During the inspection:

We spoke with the registered manager, the nominated individual, the supervisor the care coordinator and a member of the care staff. We reviewed care records and other documents relating to the service. We gathered information from three care plans which included all aspects of care and risk. We looked at other relevant documentation such as records of accidents, incidents and complaints.

Following the inspection:

We reviewed information we requested such as training documents. After the office inspection we spoke with four staff, six people and two relatives.

Updated 15 May 2019

About the service: Caremark (North Herts & Stevenage) is a domiciliary care service that provides care and support to people in their homes.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

People received personalised care and their preferences were met. People were supported to remain independent and in control of their care.

People’s privacy and dignity was respected. People were positive about how they could make choices and do things independently.

People felt supported and the care they received was safe. Staff received training in safeguarding and understood the importance of reporting concerns internally and externally.

People received their visits on time, they also confirmed if staff were running late they were contacted. Staff confirmed there was adequate travel time between visits

Staff received regular training, supervisors completed spot checks to observe and check staff competencies. Staff received appropriate training to meet people’s needs.

People and relatives were happy with the care provided by Caremark. Staff were kind and caring. People`s dignity and privacy were protected.

People and relatives knew who to contact should they have concerns. We saw that any concerns were responded to in line with the providers complaint policy

Care plans were developed when people started using the service, risk assessments were in place for each identified risk to people`s health and wellbeing.

Staff were responsive to people’s needs and supporting them the way they wanted.

The service had policies and procedures based on current legislation and best practice guidance. Staff received updates when required to ensure lessons were learned when things went wrong. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities.

Audits and checks were in place to ensure best practice. There was evidence that improvements to the service were implemented. A new monitoring system and communication application had recently been implemented to improve the way care and support was delivered.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 10 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.