Archived: Care Central Limited (Romford)

Updated 27 August 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 28 July 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors 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.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about this service. This included details of its registration and notifications the provider had sent us and safeguarding incidents. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We contacted the local authority with responsibility for commissioning care from the service to seek their views.

During the inspection we spoke with four people who used the service and five relatives. We spoke with four staff, a care service’s manager and the registered manager. We reviewed eight people’s files including care plans and risk assessments. We looked at seven staff files which detailed their recruitment, training and supervision records and we looked at the training matrix for all staff working at the service. We checked the provider’s quality assurance systems and reviewed various policies and procedures including the complaints, safeguarding adults and whistleblowing policies.

Updated 27 August 2016

This was the first inspection of the service since it was registered with CQC. Care Central Limited (Romford) is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides services to people living in the London boroughs of Havering and Redbridge. At the time of our inspection 73 people were receiving personal care services.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People told us they received a safe service. We noted staff had received adult safeguarding training and knew how to report any concerns about people's welfare. People had individual risk assessments in place which ensured staff were aware of the risks relevant to each person's care.

Staff were recruited safely and there were enough staff available to provide the care people needed. People and their relatives told us staff stayed for the whole allocated time and completed tasks. People and relatives told us staff were trained and knew what they were doing. For example, where people needed support with taking their medicines, staff had the knowledge and experience to administer them safely.

Staff told us they were supported by senior staff. They said they had various training opportunities and regular supervision. We noted staff had training in Mental Capacity Act (2005) and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities to ensure people's privacy and treat them with respect and dignity. The registered manager was aware that some staff were not up to date with their refresher training. We noted this did not have an immediate impact on the quality of service provided but recommended that all staff should have refresher training to ensure they were up to date with current care practice.

A complaints procedure was in place and information about this was provided to people who used the service. Feedback from people and relatives was obtained through spot checks and annual surveys. The registered manager completed periodical audits and checks to help ensure that people received a quality service.