Archived: Care 4 U Hampshire Ltd

Updated 25 May 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 carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type: Care 4 U Hampshire Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the agency was supporting nine people with personal care.

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. The owner of Care 4 U Hampshire Ltd is both the provider and registered manager. They are referred to as the provider throughout this report.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the provider is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 24 January and ended on 31 January 2019, when we visited the office location to see the provider and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did: Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This 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 also checked other information that we held about the service and the service provider, including notifications we received from the service. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

During the inspection we sought and received feedback from nine people using the service and/or their relatives. We spoke with the provider and two members of staff. We contacted and sought the views of five community health and social care professionals about the care and support provided by the agency and received feedback from one.

We looked at:

• Notifications we received from the service

• Policies and procedures

• Five people’s care records

• Records of accidents, incidents, complaints and compliments

• Training and personnel records

• Audits and quality assurance records.

Updated 25 May 2019

About the service: Care 4 U Hampshire Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service: People consistently told us how they were treated with exceptional kindness and respect. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback about how staff were supportive and went the extra mile to get care just right for people.

A person told us, “The carers are always kind and very pleasant, they treat me as a person”. A relative told us, “My mother……requires a high degree of care and I genuinely cannot want for a more compassionate or professional service”. Another relative said, “Mother has really taken to (the provider) and the other carers who are always friendly, helpful and respectful”. A health and social care professional told us they considered the service worked particularly well at: “Giving one to one support, continuity of care, respecting the individual and liaising well with family members”.

The provider’s values of care, compassion, communication, competence, courage and commitment were embedded in the culture and governance of the service.

People received highly personalised and flexible care and support, tailored to their specific needs and preferences. Each person was seen as an individual, with their own social and cultural diversity, values and beliefs.

The provider was passionate about continually striving to improve people’s care and support and had built strong relationships with relevant professionals and within the community to promote learning and meeting people’s needs.

There were systems and processes in place to protect people from harm. Staff understood how to identify, report and manage any concerns related to people’s safety and welfare.

There were sufficient numbers of experienced staff to meet people’s needs. Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks had been undertaken, which made sure only suitable staff were employed to provide care for people.

People’s needs were assessed before a service commenced and care was delivered in line with standards, guidance and the law.

Staff were highly motivated and well supported to provide care to people through the training and supervision they received. There was an induction, training and development programme, which supported staff to gain relevant knowledge and skills.

More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 28 July 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated Outstanding.