Archived: Kare Plus Chelmsford

Updated 27 May 2017

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 27 April 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provided a domiciliary care service, and the manager is often out supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that someone would be available. 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 the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, this included notifications about incidents, accidents and safeguarding information. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also looked at safeguarding concerns reported to us.

On the day of the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, director, deputy manager and the care co-ordinator at the agency’s office. We also spoke with two support staff. We visited the homes of two people that received the service to talk to them and look at the paperwork that was in place.

Following the inspection we spoke with nine other people who used the agency and five relatives.

We looked at five people’s care records and examined information relating to the management of the service such as staff support and training records and quality monitoring audits.

Updated 27 May 2017

Kare plus is a small domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people in their own homes. The organisation offers support to people living in Chelmsford and the surrounding area. The service started providing care to people in November 2016 this was therefore their first inspection since they became registered with the commission.

At the time of our inspection there were 27 people using the service. The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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 and associate Regulations about how the service is run.

People were safe and staff knew what actions to take to protect them from abuse. The provider had processes in place to identify and manage risk.

People received care from a consistent staff team who were well supported and trained. People were treated with kindness and respect by staff and their dignity was maintained.

Care staff understood the need to obtain consent when providing care.

The provider had systems in place to support people to take their prescribed medicines safely.

People were supported with meals and to make choices about the food and drink they received. Staff supported people to maintain good health and access health care professionals when needed.

Assessments had been carried out and personalised care plans were in place which reflected individual needs and preferences. The provider had an effective complaints procedure and people had confidence that concerns would be investigated and addressed.

The service benefitted from a clear management structure and visible leadership. A range of systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service being delivered and drive improvement.