Caremark (Enfield)

Updated 11 March 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one 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 people living in their own houses and flats.

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

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.

Inspection activity started on 7 January 2020 and ended on 8 January 2020. We visited the office location on 7 January 2020 and contacted people and relatives via telephone on 8 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and six relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the registered manager, care manager, business manager, medication supervisor, co-ordinator and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 11 March 2020

About the service

Caremark (Enfield) is a domiciliary care service providing support with personal care to people living in their own homes.

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. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 33 people with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People received safe care from staff who knew and understood them well. There were safeguarding policies in place and the registered manager and staff knew how to identify and report concerns.

There were sufficient staff available to support people. Staff had the necessary training and experience. Recruitment checks were carried out prior to staff starting to work at the service.

People and relatives told us they were supported by staff who were kind, caring and respectful.

Risks to people were assessed, managed and reviewed. Medicines were managed in a safe way. There were infection control procedures in place.

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.

People had access to health and social care professionals where required in a timely way. People were supported by staff to maintain a balanced diet where this was part of their care package.

Auditing and quality assurance processes were in place to enable the service to identify where improvement was needed.

The service worked in partnership with other agencies to make sure people received the right care and support.

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 31 January 2018).

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.