Total Care Options Cambridgeshire

Updated 2 April 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period of notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be able to support the inspection and provide us with information we requested.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as telephone calls to enable us to engage with the relative of the person using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation. Inspection activity started on 4 March 2022 and ended on 24 March 2022.

We spoke with the relative of the one person who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three care workers and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. These included sampling the person’s care records. We also looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service. These included audits, records relating staff training, and complaints.

Updated 2 April 2022

About the service

Total Care Options Cambridgeshire is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there was one person using the service. 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

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.

We received positive feedback about the registered manager and staff members. Staff were kind and caring and made sure people’s privacy and dignity was respected. A relative described the service as, “Wonderful,” and the registered manager and staff as, “Lovely.” They said the service was, “Great, it’s made such a difference to me.” People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about the care they wanted.

Staff received training, supervision and support so that they could do their job well. They enjoyed working for this service and described positive professional relationships with the registered manager and other staff.

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.

There was an effective quality assurance process in place that identified areas for improvement.

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 8 August 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.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.