Background to this inspection
Updated
10 January 2020
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.
Inspection team
The inspection was undertaken by an adult social care 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 in the community. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks relating to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.
The service had a registered manager. 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
This was an announced inspection which took place over two days on 17 and 20 December 2019.
We announced the inspection as we had to plan interviews with people using the service and to ensure the registered manager was present when we visited the agency office.
What we did
Our planning considered information the provider sent us since the last inspection. This included information about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse or other concerns. We obtained information from the local authority commissioners who work with the service and two social care professionals.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return [PIR] prior to this inspection. We were supplied with notes, however, by the registered manager for the next PIR. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
On 17 December we made phone calls to people using the service to gain feedback. On 20 December we visited the offices of the agency to speak with the registered manager and review records. We spoke with key staff by telephone.
We spoke with four people using the service and six family members to ask about their experience of care. We looked at four people’s care records and a selection of other records including quality monitoring records, training records and other staff records.
Updated
10 January 2020
Cherish Homecare Services is a home care provider which offers domiciliary care services and personal support. The service provides care and support for people of all ages within their own homes. There were 16 people being supported at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service
People told us they were settled and happy with the service provided by Cherish Homecare Services. They told they received their medicines on time and staff supported them when needed.
People told us that staff had the skills and approach needed to help ensure they were receiving the right care. Although most staff had appropriate base line qualifications, there had been a lack of training updates in some key areas. Support around staff training needed further development. We made a recommendation.
The service was staffed appropriately and consistently, and most staff had been employed for several years in care. They were experienced; this helped to develop positive relationships with people they supported.
Arrangements were in place for checking people's home environment to help ensure it was safe and any obvious hazards were assessed, and plans put in place to reduce the risk.
People told us that they felt safe when being supported and no-one raised any concerns about their care; one person commented, “Indeed I am always safe and comfortable with the care workers; they know what I am like, they have built a relationship with me.”
There were a series of quality assurance processes and audits carried out internally by the registered manager on behalf of the provider. These were generally effective in monitoring the quality of the service. Feedback was gathered from the people being supported and their relatives.
The formal assessment and planning of people’s care in care records had been reviewed and updated. Records reviewed contained very good detail of people’s care needs and evidenced their involvement in the planning of their care.
The staff we spoke with described how they would recognise abuse and the action they would take to ensure actual or potential harm was reported.
People were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests when required; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Rating at last inspection:
The last rating for this service was Good (published 23/05/2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk