Archived: Circle of Care (Devon) Limited

Updated 26 April 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection visits took place on 28 March 2018 and were announced. We gave the agency two days’ notice of the inspection visit because the management team are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. This was a routine comprehensive inspection carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Inspection site visit activity started on 28 March 2018 and ended on 6 April 2018. It included phone calls to people who used the service and their relatives and obtaining feedback from healthcare professionals who were involved with the service.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the information in the PIR along with information we held about the agency, such as notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

During our inspection we spoke with eight people who used the service or their family representatives. We spoke with eight staff which included the registered manager, care co-ordinator manager, quality assurance manager, administration manager, senior care staff and care staff. Following the inspection we spoke with people using the service, relatives and health and social care professionals who worked with the service.

We looked at two people’s care folders, health and safety and the monitoring of quality. We looked at the agency’s survey results, staff training and records of staff meetings. We also reviewed policies which related to the running of the agency.

We contacted five health and social care professionals and received responses from two of them.

Updated 26 April 2018

This comprehensive inspection took place on 28 March 2018 and was announced. The registered person was given short notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

Circle Of Care (Devon) Limited provides personal care to people in their own homes. They were registered with the Care Quality Commission in December 2012 as a domiciliary care service.

The service provides personal care to a range of older adults and younger adults living in their own houses and flats in Exmouth and the surrounding areas. These included people living with a dementia, a physical disability or sensory impairment. There were 35 people receiving a personal care service from the agency. Although the majority of people using the agency received a regulated activity, some received support visits only. CQC only inspects the service being 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. The time of visits ranged from 30 minutes to one and a half hours, with the frequency of visits from once a week to four times a day. There were 32 full and part-time care staff employed.

At our last inspection in March 2016 we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Why the service is rated Good:

The provider of the service was also the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC to manage the service. Like registered persons, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. They were supported by a deputy manager and a management team.

People using the service, their family members, staff and health care professionals were happy with the care and praised the service provided. People were protected from abuse and harm because staff had a good understanding of how to respond to concerns. All of the management team would step in to provide personal care to people if required.

People received a service from staff that were recruited, trained and supported to provide a safe and effective service. All visits had been met and people were informed if a care worker might be late. Risks were assessed and managed in a skilled way to promote people’s welfare.

People received their medicines as needed and the service sought any health care advice from health care professionals.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff demonstrated an understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Where people lacked capacity, mental capacity assessments were completed and best interest decisions made in line with the MCA. People’s legal rights were upheld. They were involved in all decisions about their care, which was regularly reviewed.

The agency provided a service which was caring, respectful and promoted people’s privacy and dignity.

People had confidence that any issue or complaint would be handled according to the provider’s policy.

The registered manager was very experienced and led by example. They had a range of quality monitoring systems in place which were used to continually review and improve the service. People’s and staff views and suggestions were taken into account to improve the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.