Background to this inspection
Updated
22 October 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 two inspectors 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.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 29 September and ended on 8 October 2020. We visited the office location on 29 September 2020.
What we did before 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. We requested feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with 15 people; 7 were users of the service and 8 were family members. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, the nominated individual and care workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included people's care records and medication records. We looked at six staff files and associated training and support records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service including audits, policies and procedures were reviewed.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
22 October 2020
About the service
Supportive SRC Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection 125, mainly older people received personal care.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
People confirmed they received their medicines safely as prescribed from suitably skilled staff. Medicines records were maintained, and associated checks completed. An action plan was in place to review the medicine audits to ensure any required actions were clearly documented.
Staff told us they felt well supported in their roles and understood when to escalate any concerns or to seek support and guidance. Records evidenced staff received supervisions, observations and competency checks which ensured they worked to high standards; following best practice. Where any concerns were recorded, further training and support was provided. Action plans were in place to ensure planned annual staff appraisals were completed following the company policy.
People, their relatives and staff provided very positive feedback about the care and support they received. Improvements had been made under the new registered manager since the last inspection. Further provider oversight was discussed and planned. An associated action plan remained in place to ensure the service continued to maintain, and where required, improve standards of care.
People received a safe service. Staff had access to clear information to provide people with safe care and support. Care records had been reviewed and updated with clear guidance to support all areas of risk.
There were enough staff to ensure people received a safe, consistent service to support their assessed needs. Staff had received training to safeguard people from abuse. Systems and processes were clear and easy for staff to follow to report any concerns. Records confirmed any concerns were effectively managed with actions implemented to improve the service.
Staff training was managed electronically. A review of training, due to recent restrictions on providing group practical training sessions had ensured staff remained up to date with their skills and knowledge.
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.
The registered manager ensured care was based upon good practice guidance to help ensure people received a safe, person centred and effective service.
Promoting independence was encouraged and people were offered choices. The registered manager and staff team worked closely with external healthcare professionals to ensure
people's health and wellbeing was maintained.
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 17 December 2019) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 3 and 4 December 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve in safe care and treatment and good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions safe, effective, responsive and well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Supportive SRC Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.