Flexicare at Home (Head Office)

Updated 22 October 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. 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an 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.

Service and service type

The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community.

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 notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure there would be someone available in the office to meet with us.

Inspection activity started on 23 July 2019 and ended on 3 September 2019. We spoke to people and relatives of people who used the service on 23 and 24 July 2019 and visited the office location on 28 August and 3 September 2019.

What we did before the inspection

Prior to the inspection we had received information about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager, HR manager, HR assistant, senior care manager, care co-ordinator and care assistants.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and two medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, staff supervision and appraisal. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 22 October 2019

About the service

Flexicare at Home is a domiciliary care agency. On the day of our inspection 66 people were receiving care and support from Flexicare at Home.

Not everyone who used the service received 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 using this service and what we found

Staff were passionate and really cared about making a difference to the people they supported so that they could lead the best lives possible. Staff were highly motivated and skilled in their role. They had undertaken appropriate generic training and where specific needs were identified, they undertook further training to be able to meet people’s individual needs. A staff member told us, "I work here because it’s good. Everything we do and everything the manager [referring to the registered manager] does is great. The company actually do care about the clients and that makes a massive difference.”

Staff were exceptionally caring. Everyone we spoke with was extremely complimentary about the care provided by staff. People told us they were very happy with the service and had no concerns. There was a strongly embedded culture within the service of treating people with dignity, respect, compassion and love.

The service was safe. There were systems and processes in place to protect people from harm. Medicines were safely managed and administered by suitably trained and competent staff. Recruitment processes were of good quality although a reference for one staff member was not sought from their last employer.

The provider had a complaints procedure in place and people were aware of how to make a complaint. People and staff were regularly consulted and asked for feedback about the quality of the service.

The registered manager was clear in their desire to provide person-centred and high-quality care to everyone who used the service. People and staff felt the service was well-managed.

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.

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 good (published 19 January 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.