Curant Care

Updated 5 November 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one 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 homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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

We gave the service 24 hours’ 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.

What we did before the inspection

We contacted other agencies who work with the service, including local authority teams. We reviewed statutory notifications sent to us by the service about events that had occurred. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We spoke with people using the service and relatives on the telephone. We also received feedback from four care staff. We requested a variety of documentation to review as part of our ongoing monitoring of 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.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included three staff recruitment files, training records and competencies. We also looked at two people’s care plans, all medicine administration records, documentation relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies, procedures and quality assurance processes. We met with the registered manager and nominated individual in the office and observed them responding to telephone calls and carrying out their daily duties.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed the staff rota and business continuity plan.

Updated 5 November 2021

About the service

Curant Care is a domiciliary care agency providing care to adults in their homes. On the day of the inspection the service was supporting six adults with personal care, one of whom was in hospital at the time of the inspection. People needed support with personal care, at this time this did not include any complex or end of life care.

Support was tailored according to people’s assessed needs with personalised care packages. The service worked closely with people and their families to ensure individual needs and preferences were considered, whilst encouraging and supporting people to remain as independent as possible. 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.

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

Curant Care is a small domiciliary care agency. Most people receiving care had live in carers or a family member as their primary carer. Curant Care worked closely with people and their care team to help support consistent safe care. We spoke to people or their relatives about the care provided. People and relatives told us they were happy with the standard of care they received.

A newly appointed recruitment consultant had been employed. They were actively involved in recruitment, this included advertising and promoting the service. Due to the COVID19 pandemic the service had struggled initially with recruitment. This meant that numbers of people receiving care had been kept low. Although the registered manager told us they planned to remain as a smaller service they were looking to provide longer care visits for people. This would mean improved continuity of care and less travelling time for staff.

Recruitment processes were in place, this included appropriate checks being completed before staff started working at the service. Recruitment processes had recently been improved and the service was offering a number of incentives to encourage recruitment and retainment of staff. We saw that previous interviews carried out by the registered manager included notes on the interview and detailed information of discussion during interview. The registered manager and nominated individual confirmed this level of recruitment detail would be continued in any future recruitment.

New staff completed an induction and training before providing care. Staff were trained and competencies assessed. Staff felt that they received a good level of training to ensure they were able to meet people’s needs. Staff received a high level of support from the registered manager. The registered manager was working hard to ensure consistent staff were available to visit people. Changes to care needs were reviewed and care documentation updated. If further training needs were identified staff had this provided.

People received their medicines safely. Medicines administered by care staff were documented on an electronic system. This was reviewed and audited by the registered manager.

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.

People’s care folders included detailed visit plans, these provided step by step guidance for staff to inform them of a person’s care needs during each visit. Visit plans were supported by further risk assessments and documentation to ensure staff were able to provide care appropriately. Care records were reviewed regularly and updated when any changes occurred.

Quality assurance systems were in place to measure and monitor the standard of the service. The registered manager completed a number of audits. Further reviews were also carried out by the head of operations/nominated individual. Any actions identified during audits and reviews were taken forward to ensure continued learning and 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 18 September 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned comprehensive inspection. The overall rating for the service was Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

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.