Comfort Call - Kirklees

Updated 11 March 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we wanted the provider to seek consent from people for us to call them. Inspection activity started on 5 February 2020 and ended on 13 February 2020. We visited the office location on 5 and 13 February 2020. On the 11 February the inspector and Expert by Experience contacted staff, people who used the service and their relatives by telephone.

What we did before inspection

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

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the regional manager, registered manager and eight support workers.

We reviewed a range of records including seven people’s care records and medication records. We also looked at six staff recruitment and training and development files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 11 March 2020

About the service

Comfort Call – Kirklees is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. On the day of our inspection 138 people were receiving care and support. 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 had been made since the last inspection. People felt the service was now more responsive and staff support offered better continuity in care. People and their relatives were happy with the care and support received from staff. People said staff knew them well and were kind and compassionate.

Staff too acknowledged the improvements made and felt the management team were approachable and supportive. They were confident any matters brought to their attention would be dealt with.

The provider had maintained safe and effective systems in relation to staff recruitment, training and support, safeguarding procedures, safe administration of medication and health and safety. The implementation of electronic systems provided better management and oversight of the service. Any accidents and incidents and complaints were quickly responded to. Areas of learning, so further improvements could be made, were shared with the team.

People's care and support needs were assessed prior to them using the service to ensure their needs could be met. Personalised records were available to guide staff in the care people wanted and needed. 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. People were supported at mealtimes in line with their support plan and staff worked in partnership with healthcare professionals, when needed.

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 requires improvement (published 15 February 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.