Archived: Coastal Carers

Updated 31 August 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This 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

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We visited the location's office on 28 July 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manger and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with six family members and four people receiving the service. We reviewed two care plans, medication records and three staff files. We reviewed records associated with the management of the service, which included policies, procedures, audits, and checks. We looked at staff recruitment details, training, supervisions and appraisals to determine staff were competent in their roles.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with three care staff.

Updated 31 August 2022

About the service

Coastal Carers is a domiciliary care agency which is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide regulated activities of personal care to people living with dementia, mental health, older people, physical disability and sensory impairment in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, regulated activity was provided to 36 people.

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

People told us they felt safe with the staff who supported them. Staff were clear on types of abuse to look out for and how to raise any concerns they may have. Processes were in place ensured any incidents were routinely investigated with outcomes and actions implemented to help keep people safe.

Risks associated with people's care were assessed and recorded with information for staff to follow to provide safe care and support. Staff had good access to personal protective equipment to manage the risks associated with the spread of infection including CVOID-19 and adhered to government guidance to protect people.

Where people required support to take their medicines, this was done safely as prescribed with appropriate record keeping checked for accuracy.

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.

People received appropriate induction, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as necessary to enable and support them to carry out the duties they were employed to perform.

Management completed a range of audits and checks to maintain standards of service. Provider oversight supported the sharing of best practice for the benefit of individuals who were supported.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 2 January 2020 and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At our last inspection we recommended that the provider reviewed and followed medicines best practice guidance. At this inspection we found the provider had acted on our recommendations and had made improvements.

Why we inspected

We undertook this focused inspection to check the service had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well-led which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Coastal Carers on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.