All Seasons Care Services Limited

Updated 21 July 2018

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 8, 12 and 13 June 2018 and was announced. We gave the service notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that someone would be there to help us. The inspection was completed by one Inspector.

Inspection activity started on 8 June 2018 and ended on 13 June 2018. It included talking to people who use the service, their relatives and staff on the telephone. We visited the office location on 12 and 13 June 2018 to see the registered manager, managing director, office staff and care staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

Prior to the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service. We reviewed information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with 12 people, three relatives, and four members of staff. We reviewed four care plans, five recruitment files, minutes from meetings, quality audits, safeguarding records, staff rotas, health and safety records and other records relating to the management of the service. We contacted six healthcare professionals for feedback about the service but none responded.

Updated 21 July 2018

This inspection took place on 8, 12 and 13 June 2018 and was announced. This was the first inspection for this service which is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to people living with dementia, mental health, older people, learning disabilities, physical disability, sensory impairment and younger adults.

Not everyone using All Seasons Care Services received regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’, help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

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.

Risks had been identified and assessed. There were safety measures in place to make sure people were safe. People we spoke with told us they felt safe.

Staff were recruited safely. The provider had completed the necessary recruitment checks prior to employment. There were sufficient staff to make sure people received care when they needed it. Staff told us they felt supported and they were trained in a variety of areas such as moving and handling, safeguarding and infection prevention and control. People and their relatives told us they felt staff were well trained and had the skills needed to do their jobs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the systems in the service supported this practice. The service worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

Medicines were managed safely and staff were trained on how to administer medicines and assessed to check their competence. Records demonstrated that people had their medicines administered by staff appropriately.

Staff we spoke with were able to tell us the signs of abuse and knew how to report any concerns. They were confident the registered manager or a senior member of staff would take appropriate action.

Personal protective equipment was supplied to staff and people told us the staff wore it when supporting personal care. There were stocks of gloves, aprons and shoe covers available at the office.

People were supported to access healthcare if needed and the service supported them to call GPs, district nurses or any other healthcare professional. The service worked in partnership with other agencies to make sure people had the support they needed at the time they needed it.

People and their relatives thought the service was caring and the staff respected their privacy and dignity. Person centred values were demonstrated by staff that told us they enjoyed the work they did. People were involved in their care and support; care plans were stored at people’s own homes so they could read them at any time.

Care plans were person-centred and people told us they had been involved in their assessments of care needs. People felt listened to and were able to have a review on a regular basis. The service was in the process of transferring records from paper to an electronic system. This meant that some records had not been updated.

Confidential information was kept secure and only authorised personnel were able to access records. Staff told us about the importance of respecting people’s confidentiality.

Complaints were well managed and records demonstrated all complaints were logged with the action that had been taken.

End of life care had been provided. Staff told us they enjoyed providing this type of care and had received many compliments from relatives praising their approach.

Quality monitoring was in place for a range of areas. Whilst the service had an improvement plan there was no overarching quality audit.

We have made a recommendation about quality monitoring.