Background to this inspection
Updated
6 February 2024
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 was completed by 1 inspector and 1 Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is someone who has experience of this type of service. An inspector visited the provider’s office and the Expert by Experience gained feedback off site through telephone conversations with people and their relatives about their experience of the service.
Service and service type
This is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
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
The inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hour's notice of our arrival. This was to ensure there were staff at the office to support us with our inspection.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We looked at the information we had received from relatives and people who used the service. We asked the local authority for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Local authorities, together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who use the service and monitoring its quality. The provider was asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 3 people and 5 relatives to get their experiences about the quality of care received. We spoke with 3 members of care staff, a care co-ordinator, a deputy manager, and the registered manager.
We reviewed a range of records. These included samples of 3 people's care records, as well as associated records that included daily report logs and medicine administration records. We reviewed 2 staff recruitment files and the providers quality assurance systems and processes.
Updated
6 February 2024
About the service
Care Staffing Limited is a domiciliary care agency which is registered to provide personal care and support to people with a physical disability, a sensory impairment, younger people, older people, people living with dementia and people with a mental health condition.
At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 23 people who were receiving 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 the service and what we found:
At our last inspection, we found improvements were required around managing people’s care calls in a more structured way to ensure care was received when required. People’s preferences were not always supported and there were ineffective quality assurance processes.
At this inspection, we found improvements had been made. People received their care and support in a way that met their needs. The improvements in quality assurance, call management and meeting people’s preferences and choices had improved. The provider was no longer in breach of the regulations.
We found there was a positive culture, which focused on meeting people’s needs. People spoke positively about the service and the staff team. People’s views and feedback was sought on the service they received and acted upon through regular meetings and daily interactions.
People were supported to receive their medicines safely, however some improvements to medicines management needed to be made. Immediately following our visit, the registered manager had taken those actions. Staff received training and they had their medicine competency assessed, to ensure they followed correct procedures.
People were supported by staff who knew them well and who were kind, caring and attentive. People’s safety and care needs were identified, their care was assessed and planned, and their needs were met. People’s individual preferences and lifestyle choices were respected, whilst their safety needs were balanced through risk interventions.
Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and poor practice. Staff were confident the provider would take action to protect people, should this be required.
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 freedom was not unnecessarily restricted, and people were not physically restrained.
Where required, staff worked with people, relatives and health and social care professionals to maintain people’s overall health and wellbeing.
The provider had safe recruitment systems to ensure staff were suitable to look after people. There were enough staff on call schedules to ensure care calls were completed at people’s agreed times and for the right duration. People and their family members were involved in how their care was provided which helped them live the lives they wanted.
The providers systems and processes showed improvements and some of the actions we identified for improvement, had been identified through their audits. A regular programme of audits and checks were completed and actions formed one provider action plan. However, further work was needed to ensure there was evidence of what was checked and what actions had been taken, for example, improvements to record keeping and medicines management.
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 overall (published 12 August 2022). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.
Why we inspected
When we last inspected Care Staffing Limited on 11 July 2022, breaches of legal requirements were found. This inspection checked whether they were now meeting the legal requirements. We found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
We undertook a comprehensive inspection to review the key questions of Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well Led.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Care Staffing Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good based on the findings of this inspection.
Follow Up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.