Pats Care Ltd

People’s experience of using this service:

People and their relatives spoke positively about the service.

The service had safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and procedures in place and staff had a clear understanding of these procedures and how to keep people safe. People's needs, and preferences were assessed, and plans were in place to manage risks safely.

There were safe arrangements in place to manage medicines and staff received appropriate medicines and infection control training.

Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there were enough staff available to meet people’s needs. Staff had appropriate skills and knowledge to support people safely and were supported through induction, training and supervision.

People were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet that met their cultural needs where this was part of their plan of care. People were supported to have maximum choice and control and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

People and their relatives told us they were fully involved in and consulted about their care and support needs. People were supported to access health and social care professionals when required. People were supported to access community services where this was part of their plan of care.

Staff worked with people to promote their rights and understood the Equality Act 2010 supporting people appropriately addressing any protected characteristics.

There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. The service worked in partnership with health and social care professionals and other organisations to plan and deliver an effective service.

People knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy with the service. The service took people, their relatives and staff’s views into account through surveys and informal feedback to help drive service improvements.

Rating at last inspection: At our last inspection of the service on 11 September 2018 we did not rate the service. This was because there was insufficient evidence to make a judgement and award a rating.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection in line with CQC regulations. We found the service met the characteristics of Good in all areas.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit in line with our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect the service sooner.

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

Pats Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. Not everyone using the service may receive the regulated activity; personal care. 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 service had 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.

There were safeguarding policies and procedures in place and staff knew what actions to take to protect people from harm. Risks to people were assessed and reviewed regularly to ensure people’s needs were safely met. Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. There were systems in place to ensure people were protected from the risk of infections. The service was not currently supporting anyone with their medicines. There had been no accidents or incidents since the service was registered.

Assessments of people’s care and support needs were conducted. Staff completed an induction when they started work and received appropriate training. Staff were aware of the importance of seeking consent and were knowledgeable about the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 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. People were supported to meet their nutritional needs where appropriate and people were supported to access health and social care professionals when required.

People’s relatives told us staff were caring and respectful. People were consulted about their care and support needs and were provided with information about the service that met their needs. People received personalised care that met their diverse needs. People knew about the provider’s complaints procedure. No one was currently being supported at the end of their life.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. However, since the service registered with the CQC no audits in some areas had been conducted due to current low service provision. There were systems in place which allowed for people and their relatives to provide feedback about the service. Staff said they received good support from the registered manager. There was an out of hours on call system in operation that ensured management support and advice was always available. The service worked with external organisations to meet people's needs.