Archived: Cherished Care Services

Updated 12 March 2024

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Our inspection took place following the provider moving their office into the new address, prior to our registration process was complete. Therefore, this the inspection was completed against the registered location of 113 Wilmslow Road.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 regulatory co-ordinator.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 1 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 6 December 2023 and ended on 18 December 2023. We visited the location’s office on 6 December 2023 and 13 December 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 6 people who used the service and 6 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 13 members of staff in various roles. We reviewed 6 people's care records and other records relating to people's care and support. We looked at 5 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed, including policies and procedures.

Updated 12 March 2024

About the service

Cherished Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to young and older adults. At the time of our inspection 50 people were supported.

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.

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

Improvements were needed to ensure staff completed required trained and the provider had effective oversight in this area. People, relatives and staff also shared concerns over training staff completed and how this was reviewed.

Policies were not always up to date. This meant staff did not always have information to ensure they understood responsibilities placed on themselves and the provider during their employment.

People told us they felt safe with the support provided by staff. Overall care calls took place at expected times and senior staff at the office were always available if issues occurred. However, high staff turnover levels left some people concerned about receiving inconsistent care from staff who did not fully know their care needs.

Medicines were administered safety, however, some update of information within care plans was required.

Care plans provided step by step guide on how people wished to receive their care call, which overall reflected feedback from people and relatives. We found other information within care plans required further review to ensure dated records within plans were up to date.

People were involved in care planning. Care call reviews were completed by senior staff with people to assess the quality of care being given. People told us they were happy with the approach from care staff who were respectful with how they provided care. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

We received a mixed response from staff over the culture of the service. Some staff told us they did not feel valued by the provider, nor had opportunities for regular 1-1 discussions in supervisions and team meetings. Other staff told us they enjoyed working for Cherished Care Services and felt supported in their role. We saw some evidence supervisions took place with staff, including spot checks to assess how they provided care to people. However, regular meetings with staff did not occur.

The registered manager and chief-executive demonstrated an approach they wished to make positive changes and improvements. Throughout the inspection they provided evidence of improvements they were completing, which included staff engagement.

The registered manager carried out audits and checks, this included reviewing accidents/incidents and events that occurred across the service.

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 5 March 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

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 changed from good to requires improvement based on the findings of this inspection.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches in relation to appropriate support, training and supervision with staff, as well as in relation to the provider policies and oversight of training requirements and training records of staff.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

We also made recommendations on staff engagement and the provider to review people’s care plans in relation to medicines, care plan review dates, and ensuring sufficient details about peoples preferences and dietary needs is incorporated into care plans.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.