Archived: The Care Group (Malvern) Limited

Updated 25 September 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.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the management team are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 30 August 2018 and ended on 6 September 2018. It included sampling people’s care records talking with people and their relatives about the care provided. We visited the office location on 30 August 2018 to see the management team; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We spoke with people who used the service, their relatives and one care staff member up to 6 September, to find out what they thought about the care provided.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form the provider completes to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they planned to make. The provider returned the PIR to us and we took this into account when we made our judgements in this report.

We looked at the information we held about the service, including any statutory notifications received from the provider. A statutory notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law.

We requested information about the service from the local authority and Healthwatch. The local authority has responsibility for funding people some people who use domiciliary care services and monitoring their safety and quality. Healthwatch are an independent consumer champion, which promotes the views and experiences of people who use health and social care. We used this information to help plan this inspection.

We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives of a further three people who used the service and one care staff member by telephone following our visit to the providers office. This was to seek their views about how well the care services were meeting people's needs.

During our visit to the providers office we spoke with the operations coordinator about how the provider monitored the quality of the service provided and the actions they took to develop the service further. Additionally, we spoke with one care staff member about their role in providing care to people in their own homes.

We looked at a range of documents and written records about how care services were being provided. This included sampling three people's care files, three staff recruitment files, complaints and compliment records and the provider’s quality assurance records. In addition, the operations coordinator sent us further information about staff training and competencies together with a copy of their current action plan.

Updated 25 September 2018

This inspection took place on 30 August 2018 was announced. This was the first comprehensive inspection of The Care Group (Malvern) Limited since their registration with the Care Quality Commission.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses in the community. It provides a service to older adults and younger adults. The service was providing care to nine people in receipt of personal care at the time of our inspection.

Not everyone using The Care Group (Malvern) Limited receives 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 consider any wider social care provided.

A registered manager was not in post at the time of our inspection. However, the operations coordinator had made an application to become the registered manager. 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.

People received safe care as they were supported by staff who knew how to protect them from harm. Staff were aware of people's individual risks and plans were in place to minimise these while promoting the person's independence. People who had support with their medicines had them administered when needed, with and by staff who were trained and competent to do so. People told us there were enough staff to support them and staff arrived on time for pre-arranged care calls.

Staff were supported in their roles by receiving an induction and ongoing training to ensure their skills and knowledge reflected the needs of people they cared for. Staff had opportunities to reflect on and improve their practice for the benefit of providing care and support to effectively meet people’s needs. Staff recognised how their training had provided the knowledge of how to reduce risks of infections spreading.

Where people needed support with their meals and drinks this was provided. People were supported to access healthcare as required, with staff helping with telephone calls if needed.

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. This included involving people in decisions about their day to day care. People were consulted about the type and amount of care they received and their needs and wishes were understood and followed by staff.

People were supported by consistent staff who were caring and respected their privacy, dignity and independence. Staff helped people to be involved in their care and people’s choices about their care were listened to and acted upon.

People’s care records were personalised and contained information about people’s preferred daily routines. People who used the service and their relatives were involved in the planning and reviewing of their care so any changes could be responded to.

People in receipt of care had regular opportunities to feedback about the service. All people we spoke with were happy to raise concerns with staff and were confident action would be taken as a result.

The management and staff team shared common values about the aims and objectives of the services they provided. Staff were supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively, so people received care and support in-line with their needs and wishes to continue to live in their own homes.

The management team’s quality checking arrangements were continuing to be developed and included regular checks of people’s care plans and staff’s practice. When issues were identified action was taken to continually improve, develop and sustain the quality of the services provided to people in their homes.

The management team demonstrated clear leadership. Staff were supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively, so people received care and support in-line with their needs and wishes. The management team completed regular quality checks of the services provided and where areas for improvement were identified, systems were in place to ensure lessons were learnt and used to improve the services offered.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.