Town and Country Care

Updated 28 May 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 three inspectors.

Service and service type

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

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 a short period of notice for the inspection because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 March 2020 and ended on 24 March 2020. We visited the office location on 13 March 2020.

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 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 three people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with three members of care staff, the registered manager and the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care and medication records. We looked at five staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 28 May 2020

About the service

Town and Country Care provides personal care to people living in their own home, primarily in the Boston area of Lincolnshire. At the time of our inspection approximately 72 people were receiving a personal care service.

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 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 and those who were important to them were fully involved in planning the care they needed and determined how they wanted their care provided. People were treated in a caring and thoughtful manner by staff who respected their privacy, dignity and individuality.

Staff had the knowledge, skills and support to provide a good quality of care for people who used the service. There were enough staff employed to ensure people’s needs could be met in a consistent and timely way.

Care was planned and delivered to ensure people remained safe. This included minimising the risks of accidents and incidents occurring. Staff knew how prevent and control the spread of infection and support people with medicines in a safe way. They understood how to identify signs of abuse and how to report any concerns of that nature.

The provider had systems in place to ensure people, their relatives and staff were involved in the development of the service and could express their views and opinions. There were also effective systems in place for managing any concerns or complaints they received.

There was an open and inclusive approach to the management of the service. Quality assurance systems were effective in driving improvements in the provision of care.

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 2 August 2017).

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.