Phoenix Care Services Ltd

Updated 5 April 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 1 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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service and 3 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 4 members of staff including the registered manager, the care coordinator and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included multiple people's medicines records and care documentation for 4 people. We looked at 1 staff file in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality monitoring records, staff training as well as policies and procedures were also reviewed.

Updated 5 April 2023

About the service

Phoenix Care Services Ltd (Phoenix) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in the local area. The service provides support to older and younger adults who live with physical, health and mental health related support and care needs. At the time of the inspection there were 8 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

People were supported to remain safe and well and according to their individual wishes, preference and needs. People told us they felt safe with staff. There were enough trained staff to provide care to people. Staff were able to provide safe support to people around their individual risks, needs and medicines. New staff were recruited safely.

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.

Staff were complimented by people and their relatives for their caring, compassionate and kind attitudes. One person said, “[Staff] talk as we go along and check if I am happy, if I am honest, they take all my troubles. I tell them and they cheer me up.” People felt respected, listened to and involved in their care. People knew how to raise complaints and concerns and felt communication with the management team was good.

People’s care was planned in a personalised way, involving them and their representatives. People were asked for their consent for care and support, and they had their own tailored care plans in place. People’s needs around their nutrition, hydration, health and social support were recognised, discussed and addressed appropriately. The managers were highly involved in people’s care and ensured if people’s needs changed, support was offered to access other health and social care services timely.

The management team had good oversight of the safety and quality of people’s care, supported staff and promoted a positive, friendly culture in the service. The managers completed a range of audits and checks and made improvements to their governance systems and processes, as well as care planning and record keeping since the last inspection. The agency worked well with health and social care partners and within the local community.

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

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 23 September 2020). We had previously carried out an announced fully comprehensive inspection of this service on 11 and 12 June 2019. At the inspection in 2020 we only reviewed two key questions, safe and well led to establish that the provider had met the breaches of regulations found during our previous inspection. The provider had met the previous breaches of regulations and these key questions were rated good at the time. However, the overall rating for this service had remained requires improvement. We carried out this inspection to review all the key questions and ratings.

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.