We carried out a review of the data available to us about Smeaton Healthcare (Cornwall) on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Smeaton Healthcare (Cornwall), you can give feedback on this service.
Smeaton Healthcare (Cornwall) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people with a range of needs, 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, two people occasionally received minimal personal care; and two people received personal care every day as well as support to follow interests and/ or social activities.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The service had been operating since October 2020. People and their relatives gave positive feedback about their experience of the service.
People who had large packages of care provided by the service had a team of staff who only worked with them. This had enabled staff to get to know people well and form trusting and caring relationships. Staff's in-depth knowledge of how people communicated and how they liked to spend their time, ensured people had maximum control over their lives and how they spent their time.
Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; however records did not always show how people’s capacity to make decisions had been assessed.
Staff had received in depth training about people’s specific needs and had spot checks of their competence. People, relatives and staff were confident staff understood risks to people and how to keep people safe; but some details were missing from individual’s risk assessments.
Staff supported people to maintain their health and understood people’s oral health care needs; however, they had not received specific training and people’s needs in this area had not been recorded.
Staff were recruited safely and completed a training programme as well as regular spot checks of their practice. This helped ensure they understood and could meet the needs of the people they supported.
Cleaning and infection control procedures had been updated in line with COVID-19 guidance to help protect people from the risk of infection. Government guidance about COVID-19 testing for people, staff and visitors was being followed.
Staff involved relatives in people’s care and support and maintained regular communication with key professionals. Relatives and staff told us communication with the registered manager, deputy manager and staff was good and they felt supported.
The registered and deputy managers were passionate about providing a high quality, person centred service. They and the provider completed a range of checks and audits on the service which enabled them to monitor its quality. Any areas for improvement were acted upon.
We made a recommendation about meeting the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).
Following the inspection, the registered manager shared evidence that this recommendation had been implemented.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected
This service was registered with us on 27/10/2020 and this is the first inspection. This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.
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.