Careaid Limited

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.

At the time of the inspection the provider was supporting 65 people with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives were very positive about the kind, respectful and compassionate attitudes of the whole staff team. A person said, “It is a wonderful service, I can’t praise them enough.”

Risks to people’s safety and health conditions were reviewed and assessed, with detailed guidance in place to help staff support them safely. People told us they felt safe when staff were in their home and staff had a good understanding of their health conditions.

The provider spent time with people to understand how they liked to be supported and ensured staff knew the most effective ways of communicating with people.

People and their relatives were fully involved in decisions around agreed levels of care. Care was person-centred, which had positive outcomes for people.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their life and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and their relatives were positive about the management of the service and praised the supportive approach of the registered manager and office team.

Where issues were raised, the management team worked closely with people, their families and the relevant health and social care professionals to resolve them. Health and social care professionals told us the provider excelled at managing complex issues and resolving any concerns.

People were supported by staff who felt valued and appreciated in their role and were very positive about the open and fair culture created by the registered manager.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for the service was good (published 16 January 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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

At the last comprehensive inspection on 24 November 2016 we were unable to rate the service. At the time of the inspection, one person had been receiving personal care since July 2016. This meant that although we were able to carry out an inspection we did not have enough information about the experiences of a sufficient number of people using the service over a period of time to give a rating to each of the five questions and an overall rating for the service.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. At the time of the inspection they were supporting 11 people in the London Boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Not everyone using Careaid Limited receives regulated activity; 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.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

Risks to people were identified during an initial assessment. Guidance was in place with information from health care professionals to enable staff to support people safely. Care records were updated when people’s needs changed.

People who required support with their medicines received them safely, with monthly checks to ensure correct procedures were followed. Staff had completed training in medicines, which was refreshed annually.

People told us that they felt safe using the service and staff were confident that any concerns would be investigated and dealt with. All staff had received training in safeguarding adults from abuse and had a good understanding of how to identify and report any concerns.

The provider understood the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and staff took the necessary action if they had concerns about people’s capacity.

Care workers received an induction and training programme to support them in meeting people’s needs. They shadowed more experienced staff before they started to deliver personal care and were introduced to people before starting work with them. Staff felt supported and were happy with the supervision they received and the content of the training available.

People’s nutritional needs were recorded in their care plans and staff were aware of the level of support required, with further guidance available for people who needed extra support. Care workers told us they notified the office if they had any concerns about people’s health and we saw evidence of this in people’s care records.

People were supported to maintain their health and well-being through access to health and social care professionals, such as GPs, occupational therapists and district nurses. The provider worked closely with them to ensure effective communication and any changes in health were reported and updated accordingly.

People and their relatives told us their care workers were kind and compassionate and knew how to provide the care and support they required. People told us that staff respected their privacy and dignity and promoted their independence.

Care was personalised to meet people’s individual needs and was reviewed if there were any significant changes. We saw evidence that people's views were sought on their care and people were encouraged to think about what they would like to achieve.

The provider listened to people and was flexible when trying to meet their needs. People were provided with information on how to make a complaint and felt comfortable raising concerns if they needed to.

The service promoted an open and honest culture and staff spoke highly of the working environment and the support they received from the registered manager. Staff were confident they could raise issues or concerns at any time, knowing they would be listened to and acted upon immediately.

There were quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and understand the experiences of people who used the service, with people being regularly contacted by the registered manager.

Careaid Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults within their own homes. At the time of the inspection, one person had been receiving personal care since July 2016. This meant that although we were able to carry out an inspection we did not have enough information about the experiences of a sufficient number of people using the service over a period of time to give a rating to each of the five questions and an overall rating for the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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.

Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were managed and care plans contained appropriate risk assessments which were reviewed regularly and updated when people’s needs changed. The provider had a robust staff recruitment process and staff had the necessary pre-employment checks to ensure they were suitable to work with people using the service.

Staff had received training in administering medicines and procedures were in place to record and monitor medicines, however people were not currently being supported in this area.

Staff were confident that any concerns would be investigated and dealt with. All staff had received training in safeguarding adults from abuse and had a good understanding of how to identify and report any concerns.

Care workers received an induction training programme to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively and shadowed regular staff before they started to deliver personal care independently. Care workers received regular supervision from management. They told us they felt supported and were happy with the supervision they received.

Staff had received training around the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and there was evidence people had consented to their care. The registered manager was aware of what requirements were needed where people lacked capacity.

Staff had completed training in food hygiene and people's specific dietary needs and preferences were recorded in care plans.

Staff sought the advice of relatives and health and social care professionals when people's needs changed. Staff understood how to respond to any medical emergencies or significant changes in a person's well-being.

We saw that activities and tasks were agreed with people in line with their needs and wishes on a regular basis. Care plans considered people's views on promoting independence and respecting their privacy and dignity.

People told us care workers were kind and caring and knew how to provide the care and support they required. Staff we spoke with knew about people's interests, likes and dislikes, as well as their day to day lives at home.

People were involved in planning how they were cared for and supported. The registered manager visited people in their own homes or in hospital to carry out an initial needs assessment, from which care plans and risk assessments were developed.

Care was personalised to meet people’s individual needs and was reviewed if there were any significant changes. We saw evidence that people's views were sought on their care and people were encouraged to think about what they would like to achieve.

People were provided with information on how to make a complaint and were able to share their views and opinions about the service they received.

The service promoted an open and honest culture. We received positive feedback about the registered manager and staff felt well supported and were confident they could raise any concerns or issues, knowing they would be listened to and acted upon.

There were arrangements in place to assess and monitor the quality and effectiveness of the service and use these findings to make ongoing improvements. As the service had not been providing care and support for a substantial period of time, some of these policies had not yet been enacted.