Background to this inspection
Updated
17 January 2023
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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one Inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 28 November and ended on 5 December 2022. We visited the location’s office on 28 November 2022.
What we did before the inspection
As part of this inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information when planning the inspection.
During the inspection
We visited the locations office and met with the registered manager. We spoke with one person using the service and the relatives of four people using the service. We spoke with three staff members. We reviewed care plans and risk assessments for two people. We also reviewed audits, staff records, training records and other records associated with the management of the service.
Updated
17 January 2023
About the service
Welcome Support is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care. The service provides support to older people and those with a physical or learning disability within their own homes. 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 our inspection there were six people using the service and receiving personal care. The registered provider told us they were planning to expand the service following the inspection and change to the rating.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
Right Support: The model of the service was person centred and promoted independence. 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 had their needs assessed and there were enough skilled staff to ensure people had their needs met in a personalised way.
Right Care: People valued the support they received and they told us they were treated well by staff. One person’s relative said, “They are all very good to her and she likes them, they are just so lovely with her and with (other relative), so kind and caring. I can’t praise them enough.” Staff demonstrated respect for the people they cared for. The service worked well with other professionals to ensure people’s needs were met and they were safe. There were safe and effective systems in place for ensuring people had their medicines.
Right Culture: The registered manager and staff demonstrated a commitment to person centred values. There was an ethos of continuous improvement and the registered manager demonstrated duty of candour when things went wrong. Staff understood how to recognise the signs of abuse and were confident to report any concerns.
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 23 October 2021) and there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 15 September 2021. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve the governance of the service.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led which contain that requirement.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The previous ratings for Effective and Caring were good. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Welcome Support 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.