Background to this inspection
Updated
27 September 2022
The inspection
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service, their relatives and staff.
Inspection team
Two inspectors carried out the inspection.
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 service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave a short notice period of the inspection because we needed to ask the registered manager to send us information and to obtain people’s consent to receive a telephone call from us.
Inspection activity started on 2 September 2022 and ended on 7 September 2022.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since its registration, including notifications of significant events. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager via Teams meetings about how the service was run.
We spoke with two people who used the service and six relatives to hear their feedback about the care the agency provided. We received feedback from a professional who had worked with the service and from four staff about the training, support and information they received.
We reviewed information sent to us by the registered manager, including care plans and risk assessments for three people, medicines administration records for one person, recruitment records for three staff, training records, accident and incident records, quality audits, meeting minutes, the complaints log and the agency’s business continuity plan.
Updated
27 September 2022
About the service
Two Fifty Four Ltd T/A Visiting Angels provides personal care and support to people living in 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. The service was supporting 14 people at the time of our inspection, 10 of whom received personal care.
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.
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care for or support anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
People received a reliable service from staff who knew how to provide their care in a safe way. Risk assessments had been carried out to identify and mitigate any risks involved in people’s care. Medicines were managed safely. Staff helped keep people’s homes clean and wore personal protective equipment (PPE) when they carried out their visits.
Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.
Staff received an induction when they joined the agency and had access to ongoing training. The agency supported staff through supervision and opportunities to work towards relevant qualifications. Staff felt valued for the work they did and told us good care was recognised and rewarded.
People’s needs were assessed before they began to receive care. People’s preferences about their care were listened to and incorporated into their care plans. Care plans were reviewed regularly to take account of any changes in people’s needs.
Staff monitored people’s health effectively and responded promptly if people became unwell. Staff worked well with other professionals involved in people’s care to ensure they received the support they needed.
People received their care from consistent staff who knew their preferences about their care and respected their choices. Staff treated people with respect and maintained their dignity when providing care. People were supported to be as independent as possible.
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 receiving care and their relatives knew how to complain and were confident any concerns they raised would receive an appropriate response. Any complaints received had been managed in line with the agency’s complaints procedure.
People had opportunities to give feedback about their care and their views were listened to. Relatives said the agency communicated well with them and kept them informed about their family members’ health and wellbeing.
The agency’s quality monitoring systems enabled the office/management team to maintain an effective oversight of the service. These included regular audits and spot checks to observe the care people received.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 5 July 2021 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.