Archived: Clover Carers Ltd

Updated 16 February 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 16 December 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection team consisted of an inspector and an expert by experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who had personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and the provider. This included statutory notification’s received from the provider about deaths, accidents and safeguarding alerts. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

As part of our planning for the inspection we asked the local authority and healthwatch to share any information they had about the care provided by Clover Carers Ltd. We used this information to help plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with 14 people receiving support, six relatives, the registered managers and four care staff.

We viewed three staff records including details of recruitment, three care plans, risk assessments, reports gathered by the provider about their quality checks and details about complaints.

Updated 16 February 2016

This inspection took place on 16 December 2015 and was announced.

Clover Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing care for people living in their own homes. On the day of our inspection there were 23 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who had registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People were protected from harm and abuse by staff who knew how to recognise and respond appropriately to concerns that they had. Risks associated with people’s care had been identified and appropriately assessed. Information was available to staff to enable them to support people safely. Staff did not start work until appropriate checks had been made to make sure they were suitable to support people in their homes and keep them safe.

People and those that mattered to them were involved in planning their own care. Staff understood how to support them. People were supported by staff who were caring and compassionate and who treated people with dignity and respect. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as they could whilst remaining in their own home.

People were supported to make their own choices and decisions about their care and support. The provider encouraged people to raise any issues and people were confident that action would be taken by the management team.

Staff received induction and ongoing training in order for them to provide care. Staff were supported by the management team and received regular feedback on performance. The managers were approachable and accessible to people and staff.

The provider completed regular quality checks to ensure that good standards of care were maintained. People’s feedback was sought on a regular basis and any areas identified were acted upon.