We carried out a review of the data available to us about Caring Together on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Caring Together, you can give feedback on this service.
Carers Trust Cambridgeshire is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults. At the time of our visit 132 people were using the service.
Not everyone using Carers Trust Cambridgeshire received 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 take into account any wider social care provided.
There was a registered manager at this agency who was supported by Customer Care Officers and the organisation’s senior management. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.
At our previous inspection on 14 March 2016 we rated this service as Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.
Staff knew how to keep people safe, how to respond to possible harm and how to reduce risks to people. There were enough staff who had been recruited properly to make sure they were suitable to work with people. Medicines were administered safely. Staff had enough equipment, such as gloves and aprons, to make sure that infection control was maintained. Lessons were learnt from accidents and incidents and these were shared with staff members to ensure changes were made to staff practice.
People’s care was planned and delivered in line with good practice guidance. People were cared for by staff who had received the appropriate training and had the skills and support to carry out their roles. Staff helped people to eat and drink and to do so in a way that also supported their health needs. Staff had information if they needed to refer people to health care professionals and they followed the advice professionals gave them.
Staff understood and complied with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the agency supported this practice.
Staff were caring, kind and treated people with respect. People were listened to and were involved in their care and what they did on a day to day basis. People’s right to privacy was maintained by the actions and care given by staff members.
People’s personal and health care needs were met and care records provided staff with detailed guidance in how to do this. A complaints system was in place and there was information so people knew who to speak with if they had concerns. Staff had guidance about caring for people at the end of their lives.
Staff were supported by the registered manager, who had identified areas for improvement and developed a plan to address these. The provider’s monitoring process looked at systems throughout the service, identified issues and staff took the appropriate action to resolve these. People’s, relatives and staff views were sought, with positive results.
Further information is in the detailed findings below
This comprehensive inspection took place on 14 March 2016 and was announced.
A registered manager was in post at the time of the inspection. They had been registered since 22June 2014. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the agency. 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 agency is run.
People were kept safe and staff were knowledgeable about reporting any incident of harm. People were looked after by enough staff to support them with their individual needs. Pre-employment checks were completed on staff before they were assessed to be suitable to look after people who used the service. People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed.
People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts of food and drink. They were also supported to access health care services and their individual health needs were met.
The CQC is required by law to monitor the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. The provider was aware of what they were required to do should any person lack mental capacity. However, they had no arrangements in place to assess people’s mental capacity; people’s mental capacity was assessed by agencies who were responsible for funding their care. Nevertheless, the assessments were not available and we were not fully confident that any restrictions were based on justified reasons.
People were looked after by staff who were trained and supported to do their job.
People were treated by kind and respectful staff who they liked. They and their relatives were given opportunities to be involved in the review of people’s individual care plans.
People were supported to reduce the risk of social isolation; they were helped to go shopping or take part in recreational activities that were important to them. Care was provided based on people’s individual needs. There was a process in place so that people’s concerns and complaints were listened to and these were acted upon.
The registered manager was supported by a team of office based staff, management staff, care staff and by the provider. Staff were supported and managed to look after people in a safe way. Staff, people and their relatives were able to make suggestions and actions were taken as a result. Quality monitoring procedures were in place and action had been taken where improvements were identified.
We found the provider had worked with a number of other service providers and commissioners of care to start innovative partnership arrangements to identify people's needs and to provide support and care services to vulnerable adults and to children. For instance, Crossroads had in place specific partnership working arrangements with an NHS Trust, with primary medical services as well as with other social care providers and with local authority and independent commissioners of care.
We saw that staff recruitment was rigorously and safely managed to ensure that people were protected from harm and were provided with well trained support staff.
Several people we spoke with said they had received consistent support from the same care support worker for a significant time. One person said, "The same carer has been supporting me for six or seven years and this has been fantastic." Another person said, "I would not want any other agency to support me. Crossroads are the best".
People told us they were aware of the complaints system and that they did not have any complaints to make about their care, or about the quality of the service.