Comfcare Main Office

Updated 4 December 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

The 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.

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

This inspection was announced.

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

Inspection activity started on 11 November 2021 and ended on 16 November 2021. We visited the office location on 16 November 2021.

What we did before inspection

We spoke with two relatives to gain their feedback about the service. We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. 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

We spoke with one relative and a person who uses the service about their experiences of the care provided. We met with the registered manager and reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and one person’s medication records.

After the inspection

We received feedback about the service from the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also viewed a sample of policies and procedures, service users guide and results from surveys asking about the quality of care.

Updated 4 December 2021

About the service

Comfcare Main Office is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to two people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection.

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

People and their relatives gave us positive feedback about the service and the care provided. The registered manager mainly carried out the home visits to people. They had developed a positive caring relationship with people they supported. One relative told us, “The manager's priority always would be [person using the service].” People and relatives felt safe using the service and had no complaints.

People’s needs were assessed prior to receiving a service. Their needs were recorded in detail in order to support the person safely and effectively. Records noted the help people required and the risks they might face in everyday life. 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 were safe medicines management practices and the registered manager was trained to administer medicines to people. People did not currently require the registered manager to work with other agencies. However, if people needed help to attend health care appointments, then the registered manager would accompany people to ensure their health needs were being met.

There were good infection control practices being followed. The registered manager confirmed they had plenty of personal protective equipment to protect themselves and others from infections.

The registered manager was keen to recruit staff, but at the time of the inspection there were no other care staff working in the service. There were systems in place to safely recruit, support staff and provide training as and when staff were recruited. We were satisfied that the registered manager was fully aware of their responsibilities in managing a staff team.

There were audits in place to help the registered manager monitor the quality of the service and to take action if improvements needed to be made.

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 9 September 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service was registered.

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.