Background to this inspection
Updated
21 January 2020
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. We checked 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
This 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.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults and children living in their own houses and flats and a range of other accommodation including care homes.
The service had a manager registered with the CQC. 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 a short period notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed to plan for people using the service and relatives to speak with us about their experience of the service.
Inspection activity started on 12 December 2019 when we visited the agency’s office location and ended 18 December 2019, when we completed telephone calls to people using the service and their relatives.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection we looked at information we held about the service. This information included any statutory notifications that the provider had sent to the CQC. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. Other information we reviewed included the previous inspection report. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection-
We spoke with the registered manager, care supervisor, field care supervisor, and seven care staff. We reviewed a variety of records which related to people's individual care and the running of the service. These records included care files of five people using the service, four staff employment records, quality monitoring records and some policies.
After the inspection
Following our visit to the provider’s office we contacted people using the service, their relatives and healthcare and social care professionals. We received feedback about the service from one person, nine people’s relatives and three healthcare and social care professionals.
Updated
21 January 2020
About the service
Caremark (Ealing) is a domiciliary care service that provides a range of care and support to adults, young people and children in their own homes, some of whom live with dementia, mental health needs and/or learning disabilities. The Care Quality Commission (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. At the time of our inspection there were twenty people receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and relatives were happy with the staff who they told us were kind and caring. The care and support people received was personalised and met their individual needs and preferences.
People and where applicable their relatives were fully involved in the assessment, planning and review of their care. The care and support people received supported them to maintain independence and remain living in their homes.
Staff knew people well and were knowledgeable about their care needs. Care plans provided detailed guidance for staff about everything they needed to do on each visit and were responsive to people's changing needs.
Staff understood their responsibility to protect people in their care from abuse and report any concerns they had. They knew how to recognise and report any concerns they had about people's safety and welfare.
People were supported by well-trained staff who felt confident in their roles. Staff received the support and guidance they needed from the registered manager.
People were supported to take their medicines safely. Staff had received training in safe medicines management and administration.
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.
The provider had systems in place to manage, resolve and review complaints. People and relatives were confident if they had any concerns or worries, they would be listened to and action taken to address their concerns.
People and their relatives had opportunities to provide feedback about the service, and action was taken to address issues they raised.
People and relatives told us that staff mostly arrived on time and always stayed for the duration of the planned call. The agency was flexible and responsive when people needed to change the times of visits.
There was a friendly, open and supportive culture amongst the managers and staff team. The registered manager was very committed to providing people with good personalised care and supported people to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Systems were in place to make sure there were enough suitable staff to carry out care visits. The quality and delivery of care were monitored and assessed and improvements to the service were made when needed.
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 (published 06 July 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.