Consa Ltd

Updated 21 December 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

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

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 not a registered manager in post. A new manager had submitted an application to register. We are currently assessing this application.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

We gave the service 24 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 22 November 2023 and ended on 30 November 2023. We visited the location’s office on 30 November 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 5 people who used the service and 1 relative about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from 5 members of staff including the manager, care supervisor, and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 4 people’s care records including their medicine records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, policies and procedures and training records were reviewed.

Updated 21 December 2023

About the service

Consa Ltd, trading as Visiting Angels Nottingham is a service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides long term, short term, and 24-hour care to people within the community. At the time of our inspection, the service supported 13 people.

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.

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

People were protected from the risk of abuse, harm and neglect. Staff were knowledgeable about how to identify safeguarding concerns and knew how to report them.

People's needs were assessed before the package of care commenced. Staff received an induction and training for their roles which included shadow shifts of other staff members. People were supported with their eating and drinking needs if this was required.

Processes were in place to support people with their medicines if required. Infection control measures were in place including staff use of personal protective equipment (PPE).

People received support from a small team of consistent staff who had the skills and experience required to care for people effectively. People told us they knew which staff would be attending, they were informed if staff were running late.

People and staff felt the management team were approachable, open and transparent. People said they had confidence in staff to perform the health task associated with their complex needs and knew when to seek advice and support from other medical professionals.

The registered manager liaised with health and social care professionals to maintain people's health. People's capacity to make their own decisions was assessed. 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.

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 1 November 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.