Brighter Days Care at Home

Updated 1 December 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. 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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken 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.

Domiciliary care

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

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

We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 15 October 2021 and ended on 15 November 2021. We visited the office location on 15 October 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered. 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 looked at statutory notifications the service had sent to us. Notifications are information about important events the service must legally inform us of. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and eleven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with four professionals who regularly work with the service.

Updated 1 December 2021

About the service

Brighter Days Care at Home is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people in their own homes.

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 received a kind and caring service. People and their relatives were complimentary about the staff and the overall experience of care they received. Staff were compassionate and committed to providing a quality service with high standards of care.

The management team’s values and ethos of person-centred care fed down to the staff team and they led by example. Professionals were complimentary and had high praise for the service and how the management team organised and ran the service.

People’s care plans contained their preferences, routines, life history and interests. They gave guidance to staff on how to meet people’s needs and were reviewed regularly. People and their relatives were involved in the initial assessment and in the development of their care plan.

There had been no complaints since the service registered. People knew how to complain but hadn’t needed to. They told us communication was good and they were kept up to date with any changes.

The service provided safe care. People’s individual risks were assessed, recorded and updated when needed. The registered manager fully understood their regulatory and legal responsibilities and had informed the local authority safeguarding team of any concerns appropriately.

Staff were well trained and had been recruited safely. They had access to a flexible employer to find a work/life balance and on-going regular support. The staff we spoke with enjoyed their job and were proud to work for Brighter Days Care at Home.

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.

The service was well led and the registered manager had good working relationships with the local health and social care teams. They carried out regular audits and spot checks of the service and staff to ensure they were providing quality care.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 13 May 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our inspection schedule.

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.