Change Social Care Solutions Also known as Change Social Care Solutions

Change Social Care Solutions is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to people of all ages and different abilities. At the time of inspection, the service provided care to 26 people in total, ten of whom received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspect the service received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service:

Feedback from people who used the service and relatives was consistently good. People told us they felt safe when being cared for by care workers and this was confirmed by relatives we spoke with.

We looked at medicines management and found that the majority of these were completed with no gaps. However, we found there were a few occasions where care workers were not always accurately recording on Medication Administration Records (MARs) if medicines were being administered. Medicine’s audits failed to identify the issues we found during the inspection. We have made a recommendation in respect of this.

Positive relationships had been developed between care workers and people they supported. Feedback indicated that care workers usually arrived on time. Consistency was an important aspect of the care provided. People told us they received care and support from the same group of care workers.

Assessments were carried out to ensure people's needs could be met. Where risks were identified, there was guidance in place for care workers to ensure that people were safe.

Policies and systems were in place to help ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. People were protected by staff who understood how to identify and report any abuse concerns.

Recruitment processes were in place and the service carried out appropriate checks so only care workers who were suitable to work with people using the service were employed.

The provider had taken measures to prevent and control the spread of COVID -19 and other infections.

Care workers told us they enjoyed working at the service and they were well supported by the management team. Staff felt valued and motivated.

There was a system in place to monitor the quality of the service being provided to people. This involved telephone calls and regular visits. Quality assurance systems and processes included audits looking at various aspects of the service.

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 good (published on 28 March 2019).

Why we inspected:

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed to seek assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Change Social Care Solutions is a domiciliary care agency which provides care to people in their own homes.

There were 15 people using the service at the time of our inspection. However, 10 people did not receive support with personal care. CQC does not regulate this part of the service. Therefore, our inspection only focussed on the five people receiving personal care. The five people receiving personal care were older adults (over 65 years of age). They all lived within the London Borough of Brent and had their service commissioned by the local authority. The service covered a range of areas including prompting with medicines, personal care, weekly shopping, housework and laundry.

People’s experience of using this service:

People felt safe with the care they received from care workers. There were effective systems and processes to minimise risks to people. People were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.

People received personalised care and support specific to their needs and preferences. There was good evidence that people’s care, treatment and support promoted a good quality of life.

People were treated with dignity and respect. We saw evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

People had choice and control over their care. Their care plans gave a comprehensive account of their needs. Their preferences and dislikes were outlined, with corresponding sets of instructions for meeting each identified need.

The service was well-led. A range of quality assurance systems had been used continuously to drive improvement. There were effective arrangements in place for monitoring, investigating and learning from events.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the service’s first inspection since registering with CQC.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned scheduled inspection.

Follow up:

Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated Good.

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