The Care Quality Commission
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Archived: Clear Care Limited

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

4 City Studios, Hall Lane, Mawdesley, Ormskirk, Lancashire, L40 2QY (01704) 823462

Provided and run by:
Clear Care Limited

All Inspections

3 October 2017

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 3 and 11 October 2017. Both days were announced. We gave the provider short notice of our inspection due to the nature of the service. This was so that the registered manager could be available to assist us with our inspection.

Clear Care Limited is registered to provide personal care to people living with a dementia, a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, mental health, older people, physical disability, sensory impairment and younger adults in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 22 people were in receipt of care from the service. There were other people in receipt of a service from the provider but not in receipt of personal care.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has 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.

At the last comprehensive inspection on 28 August 2015 the service was rated as good overall and was meeting the requirements of the regulations at that time. During this inspection the service was meeting the requirements of the current regulations and was rated as good overall.

People who used the service and relatives told us they were very happy with the care they received and felt safe. Detailed risk assessments had been completed that ensured that staff were aware of individual risks and how to reduce these, in order to protect people from harm. Medicines were safely administered. People told us they were happy with the support they received with their medicines.

Duty rotas confirmed staff allocations, that ensured people received regular and consistent visits from staff. There was a safe system for recruitment in place that ensured staff were suitable for the role for which they were employed.

People who used the service and relatives were very confident in the knowledge and skills of the staff team. Staff files demonstrated a training programme was in place that would equip staff with the skills to deliver good care. The registered manager told us and records we looked at confirmed a proactive approach to ensure staff also received up-to-date and relevant guidance regularly as part of team briefings and team meeting minutes.

It was clear that exceptional links had been developed with relevant professionals that supported a proactive approach to maintaining people’s health and promoted positive outcomes for them.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff demonstrated their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and its relation to protecting people who used the service from unlawful restrictions. Records confirmed consent was sought for a variety of decisions in relation to the care people received. This confirmed people who used the service or their relatives had been consulted about and agreed to the care they received.

People who used the service and their relatives told us they were extremely happy with the care they received from the staff who supported them. They told us they were treated with dignity and respect at all times. Care files we looked at contained relevant individualised information about how to support people’s needs, likes, wishes and choices. People were supported to access a wide variety of diverse individualised activities, such as trips out, accessing the internet, embroidery or shopping.

We saw extremely positive feedback about the service and the care that people received. Although no formal complaints had been received there were policies and procedures in place to enable staff to act on and deal with complaints appropriately.

All the people we spoke with were extremely complimentary about the leadership and management of the service. Audits, quality monitoring and feedback was obtained regularly that confirmed the quality of service being provided to people.

28 August & 01 September 2015

During a routine inspection

This inspection took place on 28 August and 01 September 2015 and was announced. 

This was the first inspection of Clear Care Limited. Clear Care Limited registered as a provider of domiciliary care in March 2014.

Clear Care Limited provides practical and personal care for people living in their own homes across west Lancashire and Chorley. Areas covered included Croston, Mawdesley, Burscough, Tarleton and Ormskirk. At the time of the inspection there were 12 people who accessed the service.

Clear Care Limited, as a condition of its registration, should have a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has 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.

There was a full time registered manager at the service. The registered manager was also the owner and director. We found that the registered manager was fully committed to the business and provided care for people accessing the service on a frequent basis.

People were protected from risks to their health and wellbeing and were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff received training to enable them to do their jobs safely and to a good standard.

The service had systems in place for reporting accidents and incidents. Staff told us that they felt confident to raise concerns.

Clear Care Limited had committed to providing care for people in their own homes that was tailored to individual's needs and preferences. We found that time allowance for visits was no less than one hour and did not include travelling time for staff to get to and from the visit. This meant that the time allocated was sufficient for staff to provide a bespoke care package, which allowed opportunities for people using the service to gain positive outcomes each time they received care and support.

We found that the service had good systems in place to help people manage their medicines.

We looked at staff recruitment and training files. Recruitment and induction processes were found to be supportive of staff development needs. We found that staff received comprehensive training and substantial levels of support.

People who used the service told us they felt involved in care decisions and we saw that service users and, or their relatives had signed care plan agreements. However, we found that the provider did not have processes in place to consider people’s ability to consent, in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.  The provider told us that this was an area they had planned for improvement.

We found that people who used the service were extremely happy with the standard of care and support they received. People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity was promoted. Staff were caring and responsive to the needs of the people they supported. Staff sought people's consent before working with them and encouraged and supported their independence.

The provider had robust systems in place to access, monitor and evaluate the quality of care and support provided for people who accessed the service. Auditing systems were used for quality assurance and we found that actions were taken when needed.

Clear Care Limited was a new service that showed ambition to maintain a positive person centred approach to domiciliary care. We found that a pro-active culture was already embedded throughout the staff team.