Background to this inspection
Updated
24 July 2021
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 team consisted of one inspector.
Service and service type
Caradon Community Care is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. This includes people with physical disabilities and dementia care needs. The service mainly provides personal care for people in short visits at key times of the day to help people get up in the morning, go to bed at night and support with meals.
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
The inspection was announced. We announced the inspection 48 hours in advance to ensure appropriate management would be available to participate in the inspection process and to make arrangements for information to be shared with the commission before the site visit.
Inspection activity started on 28 June 2021 and ended on 1 July 2021. We visited the office location on 30 June 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with one person who used the service and six relatives. We received feedback from seven staff and one healthcare professional.
We visited the service’s office and spoke with the registered manager/provider and the other partner in the business. We looked at a range of care records in relation to people who used the service, staff recruitment and training records, quality assurance records and information related to the running of the service.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed the additional documentation we had requested from the registered manager.
Updated
24 July 2021
About the service
Caradon Community Care is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to mainly older adults in the Liskeard, Callington and surrounding areas of Cornwall. At the time of our inspection 16 people were receiving a personal care service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives told us they received a reliable service and their care visits were planned with regular staff. People had agreed the times of their visits and were kept informed of any changes. Staff had built positive relationships with people and everyone spoke positively about staff’s caring and compassionate approach. Commenting, "It is working well and Mum is happy with all the staff", "The staff in this company seem to really care, it is not just a job to them" and "I feel totally relaxed about the care for [person] and don't have to worry about it at all.”
Rotas were well managed and there were enough staff employed to provide all planned care visits. There were robust recruitment processes in place to help ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people. Staff were supported by a system of induction, training and supervision to help ensure they were effective in their role. Staff had the skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs and wishes.
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.
Care plans were in place for everyone using the service. The service used an electronic care planning system and staff accessed this on their mobile phones. The information generated by this system was accurate, timely and detailed.
Assessments were carried out to identify any risks to the person using the service and to the staff supporting them. Risk assessments and care plans were kept under regular review and updated as people’s needs changed.
Systems were in place to ensure the effective management of medicines. Staff who were administering medication had been trained and had their competencies checked to ensure correct procedures were followed. Medicine records were regularly audited.
Staff supported people to access healthcare services, staff recognised changes in people's health, and sought professional advice appropriately.
There was a positive culture in the service and management and staff were committed to ensuring people received a good service. Staff told us they were well supported and had a good working relationship with each other and the management team.
People, their relatives and staff told us management were approachable and they listened to them when they had any concerns or ideas. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to 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
This service was registered with us on 10 April 2019 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection.
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.