Archived: Tamar Care Services

Tamar Care Services is a domiciliary care service that provides care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. The service mainly provides personal care for people in short visits at key times of the day to help people get up in the morning, go to bed at night and support with meals.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

When we inspected the service was providing the regulated activity, personal care, to approximately 70 people.

People’s experience of using this service

People, their relatives and professionals told us care was delivered in a safe way. Staff provided care for people in a compassionate and respectful manner. People received a reliable service, had agreed the times of their visits and received regular updates on any changes. One relative said; “Overall, I am happy with the service provided and channels of communication.”

People were supported by a stable staff team who had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. They told us they received their medicines on time and staff understood and met their needs. Staff spoke passionately about the people they supported and were clearly committed to providing a responsive and caring service in line with people’s wishes.

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.

Assessments were carried out before people used the service to identify any risks to the person and to the staff supporting them. Care plans were personalised to the individual and recorded details about each person’s specific needs and wishes. These were kept under regular review and updated as people’s needs changed.

People were supported to access healthcare services, staff recognised changes in people's health, and sought professional advice appropriately. The service worked collaboratively with healthcare professionals to access training and advice which helped ensure people’s health needs were met.

There was a positive culture in the service and management and staff were committed to ensuring people received a good service. Staff told us they were well supported and had a good working relationship with each other and the management team. Staff had received appropriate training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely.

People, their relatives and staff told us management were approachable and they listened to them when they had any concerns or ideas. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to the service.

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. (Report published on 16 June 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

The provider managed the service and was registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

This is this service’s first inspection since they were registered with us in April 2015.

People and relatives described staff as caring and no-one we spoke with had any concerns about the service or staff. One person told us, “Literally every one of them is only too happy and helpful. I can’t speak highly enough of them.” People and relatives told us of little things staff did for them, that made a difference. Comments included, “The care is brilliant and so is their attention to detail. It’s like a fairy’s been here when they’ve gone. They do things without me even noticing!” and “My mother has been in hospital recently and a member of staff took time to visit her”

People told us they felt safe using the service. Comments included, “The staff make me feel safe.” Staff had received training in how to recognise and report abuse and were confident any allegations would be taken seriously and investigated to help ensure people were protected. People had assessments in place to identify any risks to their health or well being. These included details for staff about how to help reduce risks.

There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of people who used the service. People received support from staff who knew them well, and had the knowledge and skills to meet their needs. People and their relatives spoke highly of the staff and the support provided. People valued their relationships with the staff members who provided their care and support. Comments included, “The staff are all brilliant” and “They’re like family to me.”

The provider carried out checks on new staff to help ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. During the inspection the provider told us, they had decided that in the future they would wait until new staffs’ DBS and references had been returned before allowing them access to people’s homes and confidential information.

People had care plans in place which guided staff on how people liked their care and support providing and detailed their preferred routines. People told us senior staff contacted them regularly to review the care plan and make any required changes.

Some people received support to take their medicines and told us that staff always got this right and recorded what they had administered. Staff also monitored people’s health and sought further advice if they had concerns about people’s welfare. People told us staff respected their home and protected their privacy and dignity.

The provider and staff had an understanding of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. However the provider had not ensured that when people were having decisions made in their best interests that the reasons for this were recorded. We have made a recommendation about this in the full report. People confirmed staff sought consent before providing care or support.

There was a positive culture within the service. The provider had clear visions, values and enthusiasm about how they wished the service to be provided and these values were shared by the staff team. Staff had clearly adopted the same ethos and enthusiasm and this showed in the way they cared for people. One person told us, “It’s a good atmosphere when they’re in my home.”

People and their relatives confirmed the management team were approachable, included them in discussions about their care and encouraged feedback about the service. Complaints and concerns were recorded and dealt with promptly. A relative confirmed, “Any concerns I have raised have very quickly been resolved”

Information was used to aid learning and drive improvement across the service. The provider and senior staff monitored the quality of the service by undertaking a range of regular audits and speaking with people to ensure they were happy with the service they received.

People and their relatives told us they thought the service was well led. A relative told us, “I would not hesitate to recommend Tamar Care to anyone seeking a care agency that is reliable, approachable and above all does care about the quality of staff employed and the service that they deliver to the end user”