North East Care Management Limited

Updated 11 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check 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 conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type: North East Care Management Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It specialises in providing support to people with acquired brain injuries. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the part of the service which provides 'personal care'. Where a person receives personal care such as physical help or any supervision and prompting to carry out daily living tasks themselves, we also consider any wider social care provided.

The provider also offers support to adults and families of children with brain injuries. This includes overseeing private care arrangements, recruiting and training support workers, placing personal assistants and facilitating access to welfare, housing, medical and legal rights. In addition, they offer behavioural and family therapy, other services, advice and guidance. This aspect of the service is not regulated by CQC.

The service had a manager 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.

Notice of inspection: This inspection was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection to seek permission for us to visit the person being supported. Inspection site visit activity was completed on 29 May 2019.

What we did: Prior to the inspection, we reviewed information we already held about the service. We also checked records held by Companies House.

We asked the provider for a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We received this in June 2018.

We visited the registered office of North East Care Management Limited to review records, policies and procedures. We spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed the person’s care records, one staff personnel file and records related to the safety and quality of the service. We also visited the person in their own home. After our site visit, we sent an email to two members of staff asking for their views of the service and their employer. Both staff members replied and gave us comprehensive feedback. We also asked two external professionals for their feedback.

Updated 11 July 2019

About the service: The service is a domiciliary care agency, which at the time of our inspection provided personal care to one person living in their own home.

The person’s experience of using this service: The person received extremely high-quality, personalised care from an exceptionally well-led service. The registered manager was very passionate about high-quality, person-centred care.

The person was always kept very safe. Robust measures were in place to minimise the risks they faced. Staff recognised risks and abuse and reported any concerns to the registered manager. Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place.

There were more than enough staff employed to manage the service successfully. The recruitment process was robust. Staff benefitted from specific training which was bespoke to suit the person’s needs. Staff were extremely competent in their roles.

The person had achieved remarkable and unique positive outcomes through outstanding support from staff. The person had prompt access to ample external professionals whom the staff worked in excellent partnership with.

The person was supported to have maximum choice and control of their life and was supported in the least restrictive way possible. Staff had assisted the person to regain and maintain almost total independence.

Staff demonstrated exceptionally caring and considerate values. The person told us their staff team were brilliant, and they could not wish for a better team of support workers. The staff team were reliable, consistent and greatly committed to caring for the person.

Person-centred care was fully embraced by staff. The person received a tailor-made service which met all their needs and exceeded the expectations of a domiciliary care service.

The quality and safety of the service was strongly monitored through extensive checks and audits. The registered manager achieved consistently high standards through constant enhancement to the service provided.

Rating at last inspection: At our last inspection this service was rated Good (published on 19 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned for future dates in line with our inspection programme.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk