Archived: Individualised Care Limited

Updated 3 March 2016

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

The inspection started on 26 January 2016 and was undertaken over two days. It was completed by 29 January and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available. The inspection was carried out by two inspectors for adult social care. At the time of the inspection there were 69 people receiving a service in their own homes.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included detailed pre-inspection information provided by the provider, previous inspection reports and notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

As part of the inspection process we met and spoke with four people in their own homes and we spoke with 18 people who received a service on the telephone. We spoke with nine members of staff, and the registered manager.

We looked at 16 care records related to people’s individual care needs, nine recruitment files and staff training records for the team. We contacted two health and social care professionals who work with the service for their views on the quality of care provided, and one relative.

Updated 3 March 2016

This inspection was carried out over two days starting on 26 January 2016. The inspection was announced. Individualised Care Limited is registered to provide personal care and support for people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 69 people received care and support from this service.

We previously inspected the service on 4 June 2014 when the service was found to be meeting the regulations we looked at.

Individualised Care Limited had a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People said that they felt safe with the care and support provided, and that staff were kind, caring and always respectful towards them. Staff understood how to recognise and protect people from abuse and received regular training around how to keep people safe. Staff were not recruited until checks had been made to make sure they were suitable to work with the people that used the service. The staff had previous experience of working in the care sector prior to being employed by the service.

People told us that the staff and management were approachable and if they had any concerns they would be listened to. People said that staff were reliable and there were enough staff to meet their needs. People said that staff holidays or sickness were covered by other staff to make sure that they had consistent support.

People’s care records contained the relevant information for staff to follow to meet people’s health needs and manage risks appropriately. Staff told us that they were made aware of any changes in people’s needs in a timely manner. Care plans and risk assessments were regularly updated, particularly if people’s needs changed. People we spoke with were happy with the care and support that they received and were involved in care planning and reviews. People told us they had choice over the support they received and nothing was done without their consent.

We could see from records that that staff responded quickly if someone was unwell and supported people to access other health professionals when needed. People were supported to take their medicine safely and when they needed it, and risk assessments confirmed the level of support people needed.

The provider and registered manager had systems to review care plans and risk assessment to measure the safety and quality of the service. Checks and audits were completed regularly to make sure that good standards of care were maintained. However, not all the records could evidence these were always updated. The registered manager has undertaken to update their quality assurance processes to ensure all records are up to date.

People told us that they felt confident that staff had the knowledge and skills to provide the right care and support. We found that staff had regular refresher training in the main areas to enable them to deliver safe and effective care. However we noted that whilst staff understood the principles of consent and delivering care that was individual to the person, not all staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005).

We have made a recommendation to the provider in relation to staff training.