7 March 2016
During a routine inspection
Amazin Care Limited provides support and personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection approximately nine people were receiving personal care and support from this service. The service operates in the London Borough of Bexley and provides packages of care for the local authority and people who pay privately.
The service had a registered manager in post. 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.
We found breaches of regulations in respect of staff training and recruitment. Care workers told us they were well supported to carry out their work; however some improvements were needed to ensure they all received effective training to meet people’s needs. You can see what action we have asked the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.
The service was registered to provider care and support to a range of service user groups such as children and families and people with learning disabilities. However the registered manager told us they would not be taking on support and care work to these service user groups until staff received the right training to meet their needs.
People told us they felt safe and well cared for. Staff had received training on safeguarding adults. They knew the signs of possible abuse and were aware of how to raise any concerns. Possible risks to people were identified and plans were put into place to reduce risk. There were arrangements to deal with emergencies.
People were asked for their consent before care was provided. People told us they were involved in making decisions about their care wherever possible and were supported to be as independent as they could be. They said care workers were caring and reliable and that their dignity and individuality were respected. Where people were supported to eat and drink they were asked about their food and drink choices and any concerns were notified to family members or the GP.
Health care professionals were consulted when needed. An assessment of people’s needs was completed before they started with the service and individual delivery plans detailed the care or support to be provided. People knew how to make a complaint if they needed to.
The manager was involved directly in people’s care and was able to monitor the quality of the service directly; spot checks on care workers were also carried out to ensure care was provided as agreed. An electronic call monitoring system had been introduced to monitor the quality of the service. There was effective communication between office staff and care workers. Staff told us the service was well led and the registered manager was approachable and supportive. The provider sought the views of people about the service through direct contact by phone and visits. However we found some improvement was needed as the issues we found had not all been identified by the registered manager.