Care Solutions Recruitment Agency Ltd

Care Solutions Recruitment Agency Limited provides personal care support to people in their own home. At the time of our inspection three 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 from staff that knew them well and had the knowledge and skills to undertake their roles. People received support from the same care workers. They had built friendly caring relationships with them and staff provided people with personalised care and support. Care workers were punctual and stayed the required length of time to provide people with the level of support they required.

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 involved in their care. Staff engaged with people and understood their preferences and how they liked to be supported.

When required, staff supported people with meal preparation. Staff were aware of any medical needs a person had and how this impacted on their independence.

Staff received regular training and were required to undertake refresher courses to ensure their knowledge and skills were up to date with good practice guidance. Staff felt well supported in their role and received regular supervision.

The manager regularly reviewed the quality of care delivered. This included a programme of regular telephone calls and spot checks. Staff, people and their relatives felt engaged with and listened to. Their views were taken on board and any improvements required were made.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.

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

Rating at last inspection and update:

This service was last inspected on 15 November 2019 but was not rated at that time.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Care Solutions Recruitment Agency Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing support to people in their own homes. In addition, Care Solutions Recruitment Agency Limited provides care staff to other services and delivers health and safety training courses. However, this part of the service is not regulated by the CQC.

This was our second inspection of Care Solutions Recruitment Agency Limited since they registered with the CQC on 15 May 2017. Not everyone using the service may receive the regulated activity; personal care. 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 the service was supporting one person with minimal personal care. Because of this we were unable to gather enough evidence to make a judgment and award a rating against the five key questions, 'Is the service safe?', 'Is the service effective?', 'Is the service caring?', 'Is the service responsive?' and 'Is the service well-led?’. Therefore, we were unable to provide an overall rating for the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People told us they were safe, and the care and support provided was tailored to their needs. They said they had regular staff who understood their needs and were flexible to support them when needed. People were protected from the risk of avoidable harm and were supported to receive their medicines where required. There were enough staff to support people’s needs and the service followed safe recruitment practices. Staff were supported through an induction and training to ensure they had the skills to support people safely. Staff followed appropriate infection control practices to prevent the spread of infections.

People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts for their health and well-being. People were supported to access healthcare services and the service worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to plan and deliver and effective service. 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.

People were supported by staff who were kind, caring, respected their privacy and dignity, and promoted their independence. They were also supported by staff that understood their health conditions, cultural backgrounds and diverse needs. People were involved in making decision about their care and support needs and knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy; however, they had not needed to complain about anything at the time of our inspection. The service had systems in place to assess and monitor the quality and safety of the service provided and this included feedback from people.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

At our last inspection the service was inspected but not rated (published 24 October 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the inability to rate the service at the previous inspection.

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.

This was the first inspection of Care Solutions Recruitment Limited since they registered with the CQC on 15 May 2017. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting one person. They began providing personal care support to this person in March 2018. The service only provides care when the person’s directly employed care worker is unable to attend appointments.

A registered manager was in post. They began working at the service in February 2018. 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.

A flexible, individually tailored service was provided which met the person’s needs. Staff were knowledgeable about how the person’s illness impacted up on their independence and the level of support they required. Staff were able to describe in detail the support the person required at each appointment and there were detailed care records which reflected this knowledge. Staff were aware of the risks to the person’s safety and supported the person to manage and mitigate those risks. Staff had built a friendly and caring relationship with the person. There was regular communication between the person and the management team and the person was involved in all decisions about their care. Staff respected the person’s dignity and privacy.

There were sufficient staff to meet the person’s needs and safe recruitment practices were followed to ensure suitable staff were employed. Staff completed regular training to ensure their knowledge and skills were in line with best practice guidance. Staff also completed relevant qualifications in health and social care to increase their knowledge and skills. Staff were aware of and adhered to relevant legislation, policies and procedures including the Mental Capacity Act 2005, safeguarding adult’s procedures and infection control processes.

There was clear leadership and management at the service. The registered manager and the director worked closely together to ensure they were both involved in and clear about the development of the service.

At this inspection we did not rate the service. This was because there was insufficient evidence to make a judgement and award a rating.