Background to this inspection
Updated
30 March 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 25 January and 1 February 2018 and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours’ notice of our inspection. We did this because the registered manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an expert by experience. The expert by experience’s area of expertise was in caring for older people and using care agencies.
This was the service’s first inspection since they registered with CQC. Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the information we held about the service. We reviewed the notifications about important events which the service is required to send us by law.
We spoke with four people who were using the service and 11 people’s relatives or friends. We also spoke five care staff, the registered manager and three representatives of the provider. We reviewed five people's care files, staff training and recruitment records and records relating to the general management of the service. We also received feedback from a health care professional.
Updated
30 March 2018
This inspection took place on 25 January and 1 February 2018 and was announced. This was the service’s first inspection since registering with CQC.
Flexicare Home Services UK – Stroud is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own properties in the community. It provides a service to older adults, younger adults and people with learning disabilities. Not everyone using Flexicare Home Services UK – Stroud receives support with a 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. At the time of our inspection there were 24 people with a variety of care needs using the service, including older people, people living with physical disabilities and younger adults.
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.
People and their relatives were happy with the service they received and felt safe with the staff who supported them. They told us staff were courteous and polite towards them and they respected people’s dignity and privacy. Staff always asked for people’s consent before they supported them.
People were involved in the assessment of their care and encouraged to retain their independence. The provider had reviewed the staff teams to improve the efficiency and punctuality of staff arriving on time. There were sufficient staff available to ensure people were supported by familiar staff who understood their needs.
People’s support needs and risks had been assessed and were managed well. People’s care records were being reviewed to ensure they reflected their needs and provided staff with adequate guidance. People received their medicines in a safe and timely manner and were referred to health care services when their needs had changed.
Staff had been trained to carry out their role and were knowledgeable about good care practices and their responsibilities to protect people from harm and abuse. Staff felt supported by their seniors, managers and the providers of the service. Recruitment processes were in place to ensure people were cared for by suitable staff.
Quality assurances systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service being provided and actions were being taken by the registered manager to address any shortfalls. The registered manager led by example and regularly carried out spot checks on staff to ensure people received good quality care. People, their relatives and staff spoke highly of the service. It was evident from speaking to people that staff had embedded the provider’s values into the care that they delivered.