Background to this inspection
Updated
27 June 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience who made calls to people who receive the service and their relatives. An Expert by Experience is someone who has had experience of working with this type of service.
Service and service type:
Birmingham & Solihull Domiciliary Care is a domiciliary care service.
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 the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection site visit because the management team are often out supporting people. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
We made telephone calls to five people and four relatives on 29 May 2019 and visited the service on 30 May 2019 to see the management team, meet staff and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
When planning our inspection, we reviewed any information we had received about 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 also contacted the local authority for feedback about the service. We used this information to help us decide what areas to focus on during the inspection.
During the inspection, we spoke with interim service manager, two service managers and five support workers. We also spoke with the providers interim head of social care and inclusion. We spoke by telephone with five people who used the service and four relatives. We looked at six people’s care records to see how their care and support was planned and delivered. We also looked at medicine records, two staff recruitment and training files, policies and procedures and the provider’s quality monitoring systems.
Updated
27 June 2019
About the service:
Birmingham & Solihull Domiciliary Care is part of the Trident Reach The People Charity, and is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. There were 37 people receiving care and support at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service:
People told us they felt safe with the support of staff. Risks to people had been assessed and staff had a good understanding of these risks and how to minimise them.
People were supported to receive their medication as prescribed and staff demonstrated a good knowledge of types and signs of abuse and how to report concerns of abuse.
People were supported by staff who had the skills to meet their needs. People’s consent was sought before providing support. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and what this means for people.
People’s nutritional needs were met, and people were happy with the support they received to enjoy a choice of meals. People were supported to access to healthcare professionals when required.
People told us staff were kind and caring in their approach and people’s privacy and dignity was respected. People’s independence was maintained and encouraged.
People received individualised care and support from staff that demonstrated detailed knowledge of people’s individual needs. The provider supported people to access information by producing care plans and other records in different formats.
People’s needs were assessed and reviewed on a regular basis. People’s care records were person centred and guided staff on the way they preferred their care and support to be provided.
People and relatives told us they had not needed to make a complaint or raise concerns but knew how to and would feel comfortable doing so should they need to.
The management team had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service that they provided, however we found that the staff training record showed that a number of staff had not received refresher training in line with provider's stated timescales. The checks made had not been effective in identifying this issue or taking action in a timely way.
The management team showed a commitment to developing the service. They maintained good links with local community groups and healthcare professionals and looked to develop the service to improve the care of the people it supported.
People, their relatives and staff all spoke positively about the service and said it was well managed.
Rating at last inspection:
At the last inspection we rated Birmingham & Solihull Domiciliary care as ‘Good’ (report published 19 December 2016).
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection which took place on 30 May 2019. Telephone calls were made to people receiving care and their relatives on 29 May 2019.
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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk