Archived: Penwith Care

Updated 7 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 was completed by 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.

Service and service type:

Penwith Care provides people with personal care in their own homes. The service worked with mostly elderly people. CQC regulates the personal care provided.

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 because we needed the registered manager to meet with us, and to arrange for us to have consent to visit people in their own homes.

The inspection site visit activity started on 24 and 28 May 2019. We visited the office location on both dates.

What we did:

The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We looked at other information we held about the service and provider before the inspection visit.

During and following the inspection we spoke with 14 people to ask about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six relatives. We had written contact with 15 members of care staff. We spoke with the registered manager, the owner of the service and to other administrative and managerial staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care records, and medicine records. We also looked at five staff files around staff recruitment. We also looked at other records in relation to training and supervision of staff, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 7 June 2019

About the service: Penwith Care provides people with personal care in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service provided support for approximately 130 people. The service provided support for people in three areas: Penzance, Hayle/Carbis Bay/ St Ives and Camborne/ Redruth areas. The service worked with mostly elderly people.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service had safeguarding systems in place, and staff had received suitable training about recognising abuse. People said they felt safe.

Appropriate risk assessment procedures where in place so any risks to people and staff were minimised.

Staff were recruited appropriately. Staffing levels were satisfactory, and people received timely support from staff when this was required.

People received suitable assistance with their medicines. Staff received training in medicines management.

The service had appropriate procedures to ensure any infection control risks were minimised.

The registered manager was able to demonstrate the service learned from mistakes to minimise them happening again.

The service had suitable assessment and care planning systems to assist in ensuring people received effective and responsive care.

Staff received suitable induction, training and supervision to assist them to carry out their work.

People received suitable assistance, when necessary with their shopping , meal preparation and help to eat and drink.

People received suitable support from external health professionals, and were encouraged to live healthier lives.

Staff encouraged people to have choices about how they lived in line with legal guidance.

People said they received support from staff which was caring and respectful. Care promoted people’s dignity and independence. People were involved in decisions about their care.

People felt confident raising any concerns or complaints. Records showed these had been responded to appropriately.

The service was managed effectively. People and staff had confidence in the registered manager.

The service had suitable systems to monitor service delivery and bring about improvement when necessary.

The team worked well together and had the shared goal of providing a good service to people who used the service.

The service worked well with external professionals, and other organisations to provide good quality care.

Rating at last inspection: Rating at last inspection: ‘Requires improvement.’ (published on 25 May 2018.)

The service was last rated ‘Good’ in the report dated 13 April 2017.

Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to make improvements to the service.

Why we inspected: We completed this inspection to check whether suitable action had been taken following the last inspection. The evidence found showed the service had met the breaches of regulation and at this inspection the service was rated Good.

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

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk