We Care Agency Ltd

We Care Agency Limited is a domiciliary care agency and is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, the agency was providing a service of personal care to 7 people. 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 felt safe, there were processes in place to safeguard people from abuse. There was guidance for staff to keep people safe from harm. One relative said, "Staff are well trained and we would speak to the managers if we had any concerns.” Staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, disposable gloves and aprons. Staff understood their responsibilities and could recognise and report abuse.

People's care needs were assessed and reviewed. Staff completed training to know how to care for people effectively. 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.

People's privacy, dignity and independence were respected and promoted. One person told us, "The staff are very caring and understanding of my support needs." The provider operated effective systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service. The registered manager responded appropriately where quality and safety were being compromised and improvements were made.

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

The last rating for this service was good (published 16 August 2018).

Why we inspected

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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for We Care Agency on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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

The service is a domiciliary care agency and is registered to provide both personal care and treatment of disease, disorder or injury to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults some of whom could be living with dementia or a mental health condition. The service also provides a service to people with learning disabilities or physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection, the provider was offering a service of personal care to all six people.

This was the service’s first inspection following their registration with the Care Quality Commission in June 2017. There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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 relatives spoke positively about the service provided by the care staff. They described them as kind and caring. They said that the registered manager was approachable, they could raise any concerns and felt the agency was run in a professional manner.

People said they felt safe with the care staff. The care staff had received safeguarding adult training and could tell us how they would recognise and report signs of abuse appropriately.

The registered manager recruited enough care staff to meet people’s support needs in a safe manner. They trained staff to ensure they had the knowledge, skills and confidence to undertake their work well. Care staff told us they were well supported and were encouraged to regard their work as a career pathway. Care staff good practice was recognised and celebrated.

People had person centred plans that informed the care staff how people wanted their care provided. People signed to give their consent to the care given. Where people might not have the capacity to consent to their care and treatment mental capacity assessments were undertaken and when appropriate best interest decisions were made in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Care plans informed staff how people communicated and care staff told us how they gave people choice in their everyday life.

The registered manager undertook assessments to identify risks to people’s safety and put in place measures to mitigate the risks. Risks assessed included medicines management. People who required support to take their medicines were supported by care staff that had received training to do this.

People were supported to eat and drink enough. The registered manager and director were clinically trained and liaised with health care professionals on behalf of people and their relatives where this was required.

The registered manager had systems in place to check the quality of the service provided and encouraged people’s feedback on their experience of receiving care in several ways to help make improvements.

The director and the registered manager both managed the day to day running of the agency and had developed a strong ethos and values that they promoted with both the care staff and people to whom they offered a service. They were working to build links with the local community and local authorities to sustain and develop the service.