Background to this inspection
Updated
17 March 2020
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection team consisted of one inspector.
Service and service type
Devon C Air is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes and specialist housing.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 27 January 2020 and ended on 30 January 2020. We visited the office location on 27 January 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we held about the service, including any notifications we had received. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally required to tell us about within required timescales. We used this information to plan the inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection
We visited the office location on 27 January 2020 and met with the provider/registered manager, office and care staff. On 30 January 2020 we visited four people and their relatives in their homes with prior consent. We looked at four people's care records, three staff recruitment files and other records relating to the management of the service including, training records, governance systems and quality assurance.
Updated
17 March 2020
About the service
Devon C Air Limited Homecare Agency, hereafter referred to as Devon C Air is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes and/or specialist housing.
Not everyone using Devon C Air receives a regulated activity; 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 consider any wider social care provided. At the time of this inspection, 28 people were receiving personal care from the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe and cared for by staff who were friendly, respectful and attentive to their needs. One person said, “The staff have been so kind to me, and they never let you down.” A relative said, “We know mum is in safe hands, staff and managers will always do the right thing, put mum first and keep us updated”.
We found some improvements were needed as care plans did not always contain sufficient information about people's needs, associated health conditions and did not record end of life care wishes or the action staff should take in an emergency. Whilst we did not find people’s care or support had been negatively impacted. We have made a recommendation in relation to care planning.
Quality assurance and governance systems were in place to assess, monitor, and improve the quality and safety of the services provided. However, we found the systems in place had not identified the issues we found at this inspection. We have recommended the provider undertakes a review of the effectiveness of the systems and processes in place.
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's privacy and dignity was respected, and their independence promoted. They had access to healthcare professionals when required and were supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet.
People were protected from potential abuse by staff who had received training and were confident in raising concerns. There was a thorough recruitment process in place that checked potential staff were safe to work with people who may be vulnerable by their circumstances.
People had confidence in the registered manager and told us the service was well managed. Staff felt they received a good level of support and people; relatives and staff were encouraged to provide feedback on the running 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
The last rating for this service was good (published 1 August 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme.