Charlesworth 247 Limited

Updated 7 December 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This comprehensive inspection took place on 2 November 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location was a small domiciliary care agency and we wanted to ensure there was someone available to assist us with the inspection. The inspection was carried out by one inspector 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.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed information we held about the service such as notifications, which are events which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with seven people who used the service, three relatives, three members of care staff, the general manager and the registered manager. We looked at all or part of the care records of six people who used the service as well as the medicine records of three people. We reviewed other records relevant to the running of the service such as, staff recruitment records, quality assurance audits, training information for care staff, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints.

Updated 7 December 2017

We carried out an announced inspection of the service on 2 November 2017. Charlesworth 247 Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults living in their own houses and flats. Not everyone using Charlesworth 247 Limited receives 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. On the day of the inspection there were 20 people using the service who received ‘personal care’ and there was a registered manager in place.

At the last inspection, in October 2015, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found that the service remained Good.

People continued to feel safe and staff ensured that risks to their health and safety were reduced. There were systems in place to ensure that lessons were learned when things went wrong. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs in a timely manner and systems were in place to support people to take their medicines.

People were asked for their consent. However we found that where people lacked the capacity to make decisions appropriate steps were not taken to ensure their rights under the Mental Capacity Act were protected. We have made a recommendation about improving policies and procedures relating to the Mental Capacity Act.

Staff received relevant training and felt well supported. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain good health. People’s day to day health needs were met, some further improvements were required to ensure people received appropriate support with specific health conditions.

People continued to receive good care from staff that they had developed positive relationships with. Staff were caring and treated people with respect, kindness and dignity. Staff supported people to maximise their independence. People were involved in discussions and decisions as fully as possible in relation to how they were cared for and supported.

People received person-centred, responsive and flexible care from staff who had a good understanding of their current support needs. Care plans were in place which provided detailed information about the care people required. People knew how to make a complaint and there was a complaints procedure in place. People received compassionate, dignified care when they were coming toward the end of their lives.

The management team were committed to a vision of providing personalised care to local people and valued and supported staff to achieve this vision. There were robust quality monitoring procedures in place.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.