Background to this inspection
Updated
23 April 2015
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.
The inspection took place on 10 and 11 March 2015 and was announced. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because the manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service which included statutory notifications we had received in the last 12 months and the Provider Information Return (PIR) the manager had sent us. The PIR is a form we ask the provider to complete prior to our visit which gives us some key information about the service, including what the service does well, what they could do better and improvements they plan to make. We sent 50 questionnaires to people asking them to tell us about the care and support they received from the service, 20 people responded and they told us about the care provided to them.
During our inspection we spoke with six staff members and the registered manager. We examined five care plans, four staff files as well as a range of other records about people’s care, staff and how the service was managed. After our inspection we spoke with four more staff members and twenty people using the service or their relatives.
Updated
23 April 2015
This inspection took place on 10 and 11 March 2015 and was announced. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming.
Carewatch (Croydon & Sutton) provides help and personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 115 people were receiving care and support from this service. At our last inspection in August 2013 Carewatch (Croydon & Sutton) was meeting the regulations inspected.
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.
People and their relatives told us they felt safe and that staff treated them well. There were processes in place to help make sure people were protected from the risk of abuse and staff were aware of safeguarding vulnerable adult’s procedures and understood how to safeguard the people they supported.
Staff were up to date with training and the service followed appropriate recruitment practices.
People’s individual risk was assessed to help keep them safe. Care records and risk assessments were regularly reviewed. Staff supported people to attend appointments and liaised with their GP and other healthcare professionals to help meet their health needs.
People were asked about their food and drink choices and staff assisted them with their meals when required. People were supported to take their medicine when they needed it.
People and their relatives thought staff were caring and respectful. Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service for them. Staff explained the methods they used to help maintain people’s privacy and dignity.
People and their relatives told us they would complain if they needed to, they all knew who the manager was and felt comfortable speaking with her about any problems.
People were contacted regularly to make sure they were happy with the service. Senior staff carried out spot checks to review the quality of the care provided.