23 January 2017
During a routine inspection
Chrysalis Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 18 people using the service.
The service had a registered manager as required. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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. The registered manager was present and assisted us during the inspection.
People benefitted from a service that recognised the risk of people feeling socially isolated and lonely. Staff were encouraged to use any additional time at the end of a call to sit with people and chat or help them with an activity. In the past 12 months the service had provided, free of charge, a summer outing and a Christmas meal outing for people who use the service.
People, their relatives and professionals complimented the service on their ability to build positive, caring relationships with people who use the service and their family carers. Professionals felt the service worked well in partnership with other agencies, clients and family members to meet the needs of people who use the service.
People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity was promoted. People and their relatives said the care workers were kind and caring. Staff were responsive to the needs of the people they supported and enabled them to maintain their independence as much as possible.
People were protected from risks to their health and wellbeing and were protected from the risk of abuse. Safe recruitment practices were followed before new staff were employed to work with people. Although some gaps were found in employment histories, these were quickly rectified and a new checking procedure put in place. Other required checks were made to ensure staff were of good character and suitable for their role.
Staff received training and supervision to enable them to do their jobs safely and to a good standard. Where any training or update training was due, dates had been scheduled and training sessions booked.
People received support that was individualised to their specific needs. Their needs were monitored and care plans reviewed regularly or as changes occurred. People's rights to make their own decisions, where possible, were protected and promoted by staff.
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.
People's health and well-being was assessed with measures put in place to ensure people's needs were met in an individualised way. Medicines were managed well and staff handling medicines were only allowed to do so after completing their training and being assessed as competent. Where included in their care package, people were supported to eat and drink enough.
People benefitted from receiving a service that was managed well. Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of the care and support being delivered and the running of the service.