Olam Care Services Ltd

Updated 18 May 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 team consisted of 1 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.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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

Notice of inspection

We gave the service short notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 19 April 2023 and ended on 2 May 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 2 May 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, Healthwatch, and professionals who work with the service. 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 spoke with the registered manager, the field manager and compliance manager. We spoke with 7 people who used the service.

We reviewed a range of records including 3 people’s care and medicines records. We looked at the recruitment records for 3 members of staff. We also looked at records relating to the safety and management of the service. We also reviewed records the registered manager had sent to us electronically.

We received feedback from 2 health and social care professionals who work with the service and 11 members of staff.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate the evidence we found.

Updated 18 May 2023

About the service

Olam Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 16 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People spoke positively about the care and support provided by the service. People said they received care from a consistent staff team who were caring, knowledgeable and competent. Their comments included, “I can’t ask for better. I have no complaints. They give good care.” and “It really is very good, they help me a lot. They check that I am doing ok.”

People were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. Staff had the knowledge and confidence to identify safeguarding concerns and knew how to act on them to keep people safe.

Care records reflected people’s needs. Risks to people’s health had been assessed and plans were in place to mitigate these risks. Care plans and risk assessments were reviewed regularly to ensure guidance remained current and relevant to the person’s needs.

There were systems in place to manage medicines safely. People were supported to access healthcare services and maintain a healthy diet. The service worked alongside other health and social care professionals to meet people’s needs.

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.

Quality monitoring and assurance systems were in place to ensure the registered manager had oversight of the service. Regular audits were undertaken, and actions followed up. There were processes in place for reviewing and investigating accidents, incidents and safeguarding to ensure lessons were learned and these were shared with staff.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 12 November 2021).

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we recommended the provider to take at the last inspection. At our last inspection we recommended the provider undertook a review of people's care and support records to ensure they were reflective of people's needs and risks, and that care records provided staff with clear guidance. We recommended the provider also reviewed their quality monitoring and assurance systems. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on our recommendations and had made improvements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. 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 Olam Care Services Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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