Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Domiciliary Care Agency

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff were knowledgeable about reporting any abuse. There were a sufficient number of staff and recruitment procedures ensured that only suitable staff were employed. Risk assessments were in place and actions were taken to reduce identified risks.

The registered manager and staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. People were supported to have choice and control over their lives as much as possible and staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible. People’s privacy and dignity were respected and their support was provided in a caring and a patient way.

Care was provided based on people’s individual health, personal and social care needs. There was a complaints process in place so that people could raise their concerns and complaints and these were acted upon by staff.

The provider had quality assurance processes and procedures in place to monitor the quality and safety of people’s care. People were able to make suggestions in relation to the support and care provided and felt listened to.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Care and support was well coordinated and kept up to date to ensure that people's needs were being met. We saw evidence that people were involved in the planning of their care and support.

We saw evidence that staff were trained and monitored regarding the administration of medicines. Staff were aware of their responsibilities when recording the administration of medicines that they had given or prompted people to take.

Effective recruitment procedures were in place which ensured that all appropriate checks had been made prior to staff starting work. There was an induction programme and mandatory training in place for new staff to ensure they were competent to deliver care.

Quality assurance procedures were in place for monitoring the running of the service and people were able to raise any issues and concerns with the manager and staff team whenever they wished.

People that we spoke with were positive and satisfied with the care and support they received from the agency. They made comments such as; 'The staff are friendly and help sort problems.' People told us that they had a keyworker to help them organise their week and any events or appointments that were coming up. People felt that their views and any concerns they had would be listened to and properly dealt with by the manager and care staff.

Care and support was regularly reviewed to ensure that peoples' needs were being met. There was evidence of people's involvement in the planning of their care and support.

Staff were trained in safeguarding people from harm and had access to policies and information about how to report any incidents or concerns to the local authority safeguarding team.

There was regular staff supervision and ongoing training sessions in place to ensure that staff could safely deliver care and support to people.

The agency had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of the service that was provided to people.