Carers Trust Tyne and Wear

Updated 4 April 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 was carried out by an inspector and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults and children living in their own homes.

The service had two managers registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. One of the registered managers was not present during our inspection.

Notice of inspection

The first day of the inspection was unannounced. We arranged with the registered manager to return to the service to complete the inspection.

What we did before 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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 15 members of staff including the registered manager, a care coordinator, care workers, the human resources and finance coordinator and the administrator.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 10 people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 4 April 2020

About the service

The Carers Trust Tyne and Wear provides personal care and support to adults and children living in the community. The service is contracted to provide up to 400 hours per week by the local council. Additional contractual arrangements are in place and people can contract directly with the service to meet their needs. At the time of our inspection there were 153 people using the service. This included people with learning and physical disabilities, dementia and mental health needs as well as children and young people.

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

Staff knew people very well and understood their needs. Risks to people and staff were well managed. Staff were clear on how to report any safeguarding concerns to their manager. The provider did not always follow best practice guidance in the management of medicines. We made a recommendation about this.

Pre-employment checks were carried out to check if staff were suitable to work in the service. Staff were supported through a period of induction, training and staff meetings. The provider was reviewing the training to make sure all staff received a broad range of training to meet people’s needs.

Staff worked closely with other professionals to promote people’s health and wellbeing. Advice from health professionals had been followed.

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 had assessed the decision-making capacity of children and young people and understood how young people communicated their wishes and feelings.

Staff supported people to be as independent as possible and respected their choices. Relatives felt they had been listened to and were involved in the service. They told us staff were very caring.

People received person centred care. Care records provided individual detailed information about people which supported staff to deliver care to meet each person's particular needs.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service. Staff were very positive about their roles and felt managers listened to them. Relatives told us they had no complaints and found the managers approachable.

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 18 August 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.