Priceless Care Services Ltd

Updated 23 February 2019

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 adult social care inspector and an assistant inspector who made phone calls to people or relatives in their home.

Service and service type:

Priceless Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager who was also the provider and was registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

The inspection site visit activity started on the 5 February and ended on the 6 February 2019. The office day of the inspection took place on 6 February 2019. Phone calls to people and their relatives took place on the 5 February 2019.

What we did:

Before inspection: We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This information was used to plan our inspection and was taken into account when we made judgements in this report.

During inspection: We looked at three care files, three staff files to review recruitment, training and supervision records. We looked at records of accidents, incidents, complaints and compliments and reviewed audits, quality assurance reports and surveys.

We spoke with the registered manager/provider and the administrator and two care staff provided information via a questionnaire. We spoke with one person and six relatives over the phone.

Updated 23 February 2019

About the service: Priceless Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own home. It provides a service to 12 older adults.

People’s experience of using this service: People told us they received a good service and felt safe with the support they received from staff. Arrangements were in place to protect people from risks to their safety and welfare, including the risks of avoidable harm and abuse. Recruitment processes were in place to make sure the provider only employed workers who were suitable to work in a care setting. There were arrangements in place to protect people from risks associated with the management of medicines and the spread of infection.

Care and support were based on detailed assessments and care plans, which were reviewed and kept up to date. Staff received appropriate training and supervision to maintain and develop their skills and knowledge to support people according to their needs. People's rights were protected by staff who under stood the Mental Capacity Act and how this applied to their role. Where appropriate, people were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain their health and welfare. People were supported to access healthcare services, such as GPs.

Care workers had developed caring relationships with people they supported. People were supported to take part in decisions about their care and treatment, and their views were listened to. Staff respected people's independence, privacy, and dignity.

Peoples care and support considered their abilities, needs and preferences and reflected their physical, emotional and social needs. People were kept aware of the providers complaints procedure.

Effective management systems were in place to monitor the quality of the care provided and to promoted people’s safety and welfare.

Rating at last inspection: The rating at the last inspection was Good. The report was published 18 July 2016.

Why we inspected: This inspection was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

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.