Archived: Carte Blanche Care Limited

Updated 13 September 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

We inspected the service on 8 and 14 August 2017. This inspection was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location is a domiciliary service; we needed to be sure that someone would be available.

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included a Provider Information Return (PIR). This form is completed by the provider to give some key information about the service, including what the service does well and what improvements they are planning on making. We also viewed statutory notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law.

During the inspection we reviewed people’s care records, one staff’s recruitment, training and supervision files and other records relating to the management of the service. We talked to the managing director, registered manager and the staff member working for this service.

During the inspection we met with the person who used the service and their relative. We also contacted two health and social care professionals for their feedback about the care provided for people.

Updated 13 September 2017

This inspection took place on 8 and 14 August 2017 and was announced. 24 hours before the inspection we contacted the service to let them know that we will be coming to inspect them. We wanted to make sure that the registered manager would be available on the day of inspection.

Carte Blanche Care Limited is registered to provide personal care services to people within the local community. At the time of inspection one person was receiving 24 hour support from this service.

This service has not previously been inspected.

At the time of the inspection the service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, 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.

People and their relatives felt the services provided were safe. Staff were aware of and understood the potential signs of abuse and how to report any concerns. The service carried out risk assessments and management plans were in place to minimise the risks identified. The registered manager had carried out environmental risk assessments, including fire risk assessments, making sure that staff supported people as necessary in the event of a fire. The service carried out checks to ensure that staff were recruited safely and suitable to work with people.

A policy on incidents and accidents was available for staff to follow when their needed it. People received support to have their medicines as prescribed. However, we found that PRN protocols were not in place. A PRN protocol explains how people should receive their medicines that were to be taken when needed, such as pain killers. We raised our concerns with the registered manager and noted on the second day of the inspection PRN protocols were in place.

The registered manager supported staff well, which enabled them to provide effective care for people. They carried out regular supervisions to ensure that staff had the support they required to meet people’s needs. The registered manager was in the process of planning appraisal meetings for staff who had worked at the service over a year.

Staff followed the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) principals and supported people to make decisions for themselves as much as possible. People’s nutritional needs were assessed and staff supported people to eat and drink as necessary. The service helped people to attend to their health needs as and when required. Staff attended relevant training courses to ensure they had the required knowledge for their role. However, staff were not trained to support people with learning disabilities. After discussing this with the registered manager, the learning disabilities training course was booked for staff within a week.

People told us that staff were good to them. Staff knew people’s preferences and care needs well. Care records had information on people’s history and important events to them. The registered manager had regularly met with people making sure they were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff supported people to undertake tasks independently. The services provided to people were caring and respectful. Staff supported people to maintain their dignity when assisting them with personal care. People had a choice of who and when to visit them in their own home.

The service had a good understanding of people’s care needs and arranged support to match these needs. Staff supported people to make choices about the activities they wanted to attend. People had support to choose their daily meals and carry out food shopping as necessary. At the time of inspection, people and their relatives did not have any complaints about the support provided. People were aware of who to talk to if they wanted to raise any concerns about the services.

People were able to talk to the registered manager when they needed to. The registered manager was aware of different forms of statutory notifications they had to submit to CQC as required by law. There were good communication systems in place at the service. Staff shared information internally and externally as necessary to ensure good care for people. People’s relatives shared their experiences with the service to ensure that people’s care needs were met as required. Regular audits took place to assess the quality of the services provided for people. The registered manager carried out individual checks on staff to review their performance and to improve the care delivery.