Stardust Healthcare Ltd

Updated 27 September 2019

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own home. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that 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

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection and we could speak with people. Inspection activity started on 31 July 2019 and ended on 1 August 2019. We visited the office location on 31 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service since the last inspection. This included information about deaths, accidents/incidents and safeguarding alerts which they are required to send us by law. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with three people, three relatives, three care staff, the care manager, care coordinator and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included the records for three people being supported, three care staff files and records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 27 September 2019

About the service

Stardust Healthcare Limited is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own home. On the day of the inspection, 12 people were receiving 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

People received support that was safe and care staff knew how to keep them safe. Appropriate care staff were recruited to support people safely and where medicines were administered this was done as it was prescribed. There were sufficient care staff to support people and risks to people were identified and reviewed. Care staff were trained to know how to follow infection control processes with access to personal protective equipment. Where accidents or incidents happened, trends were monitored.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Care staff had access to an induction process which ensured they knew how to support people. Where people needed support to access healthcare, care staff supported people where required. People decided what they had to eat and drink.

People received support that was caring and kind. People’s privacy, dignity and independence was promoted.

People received support that was responsive to their needs. Assessments and care plans identified people’s support needs and how they would be met. Reviews were carried out to ensure where people’s support needs changed care staff could be made aware. The provider had a complaints process in place which people used to share any concerns they had.

The service was not always well led. While the registered manager and care staff knowledge and understanding had improved since the last inspection we found further training was still needed in some areas as to how people were supported.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 14 August 2018) and there was a breach of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk