Comfort Call Durham

Comfort Call Durham is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of inspection 161 people were receiving personal care.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and relatives were happy with the service and the care people received. They were complimentary about staff calling them “caring” , “gold standard” and “outstanding.” Comments included, “I can’t really think of anything (that requires improvement). I am very satisfied and content with the staff” and, “I have such confidence in (the provider and staff) that it gives me complete peace of mind. The carers really lift [family member’s] spirits.”

There were systems in place to keep people safe. Staff safeguarded people from abuse. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were managed. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and safe recruitment processes were followed. Medicines were safely administered and managed. The provider learned from previous accidents and incidents to reduce future risks. The provider and staff protected people from the risk or spread of infection.

The service was well managed. The provider, registered manager and staff promoted a positive culture in the service. People and relatives were complimentary about staff and the care people received. The provider had an effective quality assurance process in place which included regular audits and spot checks. People, relatives and staff were regularly consulted about the quality of the service through regular communication, surveys, meetings and reviews.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.

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 11 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. As a result, we decided to undertake a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm. Please see the Safe and Well-led sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Comfort Call Durham on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

We last inspected Comfort Call Durham in July 2014, found there were no breaches of legal requirements and rated the service as Good overall. The provider relocated office premises and registered the change of address in January 2016. At this inspection we found the service was continuing to meet all legal requirements.

Comfort Call Durham is registered to provide personal care to support people to continue living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 242 people.

People who used the service were complimentary about the standard of care and support provided by Comfort Call Durham. A person told us, “My carer is like a good friend and I am so lucky.”

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (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 manager had been registered with CQC since 3 July 2017.

The registered manager was accessible and approachable. Staff and people who used the service felt able to speak with the registered manager and provide feedback on the service.

Safeguarding procedures were in place. Staff had received training in prevention of abuse and were knowledgeable in recognising signs of potential abuse and the relevant reporting procedures.

Staff were aware of the reporting and recording procedures for accidents and incidents. Risk assessments were in place related to the environment and the delivery of care.

People received their medicines in a safe way. Medicines records were accurate and supported the safe administration of medicines. Staff were trained in handling medicines.

There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service. Staff were able to accommodate last minute changes to appointments as requested by the people who used the service.

The provider had an effective recruitment and selection procedure in place and carried out relevant checks when they employed staff. Staff received regular supervision sessions and an annual appraisal.

Staff were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities and training was up to date. Staff had the experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

People who used the service were involved in developing their care and support plan, identifying what support they required from the service and how this was to be carried out. Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service.

Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported and people were involved in making decisions about their care. The care plans made good use of personal history and described individuals care, wellbeing and support needs.

The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The registered manager had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 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. The care records we looked at contained evidence of consent.

People had access to health care professionals to help maintain their wellbeing and staff responded to any health concerns.

Staff supported people to help them maintain their independence. People were encouraged to care for themselves where possible. Staff treated people with dignity and respect.

The registered manager showed us records confirming regular checks and audits were carried out at the service. The provider was meeting legal requirements in relation to notifying the CQC of events.

The provider had policies and procedures in place that provided staff with clear instructions.

Records were kept securely and could be located when needed.