Archived: Five Stars Care Ltd

Updated 4 March 2017

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.

The inspection took place on 23 and 24 January 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available to respond to our queries.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and one expert by experience, who carried out phone calls after the inspection visit. 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 asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. They did return a PIR and we took this into account when we made the judgements in this report. We reviewed all the information we had available about the service including notifications sent to us by the manager. Notifications are information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law. We also looked at information sent to us from others, including family members and the local authority.

During the inspection, we visited the agency’s office and spoke with the registered manager, five members of staff and eight people, and their family members.

We looked at four people’s care records and four staff records. We inspected information relating to the management of the service such as health and safety records, personnel and recruitment records, quality monitoring audits and complaints. Healthcare professionals were approached for comments about the service and any feedback received has been included in the report.

Updated 4 March 2017

Five star care provides respite and personal care to people who live in their own homes. Some of the people using the service had complex needs and the frequency of visits depended on people’s individual requirements. Visits ranged from shorter visits of around 2 hours to longer visits of up to 12 hours.

On the day of our inspection, 15 people were using the service. Some elements of the service although provided by five star care would not need to be registered with the Commission if this was their sole purpose. Because of this, we have focused our inspection on the people in receipt of personal care only.

There was a registered manager in post. 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. The former registered manager had left in April 2016. The former Head of Care had been appointed as manager and was applying to CQC to become the new registered manager.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs and to manage risk. Systems were in place so people could take their prescribed medicines safely.

The provider had a robust recruitment process, which helped protect people from the risk of avoidable harm, and staff were supported to develop their skills and knowledge.

People's consent was gained before any care was provided and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were met. People were supported to consume food and drink of their choice and staff worked well with people and health care professionals, to ensure people maximised their health and wellbeing.

Staff knew people well and had time to develop positive relationships with them. People received support that was personalised and the registered manager responded flexibly to changes in their lives.

Guidance was in place to enable staff to provide a consistent level of support. People and their relatives told us they were aware of how to make a complaint and felt they were listened to by the registered manager.

Staff were enthusiastic about working for the service and worked well as a team. The provider supported best practice and there were systems in place to check the quality of the service.