4 August 2022
During a routine inspection
LA Care is a domiciliary care agency providing care to people in their own homes in the Abingdon and surrounding Oxfordshire area. At the time of our inspection 14 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care from the service. Not everyone using the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care, which 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 were protected from abuse and harm, and staff knew how to report any suspicions concerning people’s safety. The service had systems to report and investigate concerns. Risk assessments identified how potential risks should be managed to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing harm. Staff understood the risks to people and delivered safe care in accordance with people's support plans. There were enough staff to keep people safe and meet their needs. Robust recruitment processes aimed to ensure only suitable staff were selected to work with people.
Each staff member had received an induction and training to enable them to meet people's needs effectively. We saw that supervision/spot check meetings for staff were held regularly and staff felt supported by the management to perform their role. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible and acted in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service promoted this practice.
People's care plans were person-centred and focused on what was important to people. Care plans were regularly reviewed, and people and their relatives were involved in the reviews. People felt they were treated with kindness and said their privacy and dignity were always respected.
People, their relatives and staff spoke highly of the management; they found them approachable and supportive. Staff were given appropriate responsibility which was continuously monitored and checked by the manager. There were systems to monitor, maintain and improve the quality of the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
This service was registered with us on 30 April 2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection for a newly registered service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information, we may inspect sooner.