Background to this inspection
Updated
12 February 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
One inspector undertook this inspection.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that there would be someone at the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 21 January 2020 and ended on 28 January 2020. We visited the office location on 21 January 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed all the information we held about the service. We contacted relevant agencies such as the local Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. 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 one person who used the service. We also spoke with two members of staff, the registered manager and the office manager.
We reviewed one person’s care records, policies and procedures, records relating to the management of the service, including recruitment records, training records and quality audits.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found. This included, updated policies and procedures.
Updated
12 February 2020
About the service
Shield Recruitment Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. It provides a service to older people and younger adults. At the time of inspection, the service was providing personal care to one person.
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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The person who used the service said they received safe care and support. Staff understood and managed people’s risks. Enough staff were employed to support the person consistently and safely. Staff protected the person from avoidable harm, were knowledgeable about safeguarding and felt able to raise concerns. Systems were in place to recruit staff safely.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff received effective training and support to enable them to care for people well. Staff gained consent to care and understood people’s rights to make their own decisions.
Staff were patient, friendly and kind, and made sure they respected privacy and dignity. They had developed positive, caring relationships with the person who used the service. Staff respected the person’s privacy and dignity and promoted independence, equality and diversity.
The service assessed needs before people began to use the service. Care plans overall, contained information for staff to support the person according to their needs. Some care plans needed strengthening to ensure more detail. The registered manager updated these during the inspection.
The registered manager completed checks on the quality of the service provided. The provider had a system in place for responding to people's concerns and complaints. Procedures were in place to learn from incidents and accidents. There was an honest and open culture; with regular communication with the person who used the service and staff. The registered manager was responsive to any issues raised during the inspection.
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 14 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.