Unit 2N, First Floor

Updated 1 June 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has direct or personal experience with care services. In this instance the expert by experience conducted telephone calls to better understand people’s experiences.

Service and service type: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It supports adults with different needs and backgrounds. Including people with mobility needs, mental health needs, learning disabilities and dementia.

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 two days’ notice of the inspection site visit because we wanted to ensure there would be someone in the office.

We visited the office location on 30 April 2019 to see the registered manager, speak with staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We also undertook phone calls to speak with people who used the service and their relatives on 1 and 3 May 2019.

What we did:

The registered manager sent us a provider information return (PIR). This is a document completed by the registered manager which contains information on how the service is developing and any planned improvements.

As part of the inspection we spoke with nine people who received care from the service and seven relatives of people who received care over the telephone. We spoke with the registered manager and four members of care staff. We looked at three people’s care records and looked at three staff files including training and recruitment. We reviewed the service’s accidents and incidents, audits and complaints policies.

Updated 1 June 2019

About the service:

Unit 2N, First Floor, referred to as Carers Direct in this report, is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to 25 people at the time of the inspection. It supports people with different needs and backgrounds. Including people with mobility needs, mental health needs, learning disabilities and dementia.

People’s experience of using this service:

People, relatives and staff spoke highly of Carers Direct. The service had strong person-centred values and placed people at the heart of their work. People had access to a stable staff team they knew well and achieved positive outcomes and strong relationships. Comments from people included; “I receive such a high standard of care I have nothing to complain about”, “I receive an excellent quality of care” and “I have recommended this company to a friend of mine who like me is losing her sight and she tells me she is getting good care like me from this company.”

People were fully involved in their care and their wishes respected. People’s views were sought and their consent was always gained before any care took place. People were offered as many choices as possible in ways which met their individual needs. For example, staff had created personalised picture cards to help a person communicate when they were having difficulties with verbal communication.

People’s care plans contained personalised information which detailed how they wanted their care to be delivered. Staff knew people well and expressed care and affection for them when speaking with us. All staff we spoke with were proud to work for the service and praised the high standards of care expected.

Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing were assessed and management plans were put in place to ensure these were reduced as much as possible. During the inspection we identified some risks assessments which had not been completed but this had not impacted on the people using the services because of their stable staff teams. The registered manager assured us these would be completed following the inspection.

People were protected from potential abuse by staff who had received training and were confident in raising concerns. There was a thorough recruitment process in place that checked potential staff were safe to work with people who may be vulnerable.

There was strong leadership at the service and people, relatives and staff spoke highly of the registered manager. There was a positive culture and staff felt their voices were listened to. Carers Direct was a cooperative and as such each member of staff was a member and participated in big decision making.

People were supported by kind and caring staff who worked hard to promote their independence and sense of wellbeing. We were given examples of the staff going above and beyond for people. For example, one relative said, “One morning I had nipped out and when I got back the carer was hoovering the stairs for me. I was so grateful to her. She said she uses the stairs as well as me and it was the least she could do.”

There were quality assurance systems in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service provided.

More information is in the full report

Rating at last inspection: This service was last inspected on 5 September 2016 where it was rated good overall and in every key question. The report was published 13 October 2016.

Why we inspected: This inspection was scheduled based on the registration date of the service.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about the service. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.