Lead Care

Updated 21 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 6 and 12 February 2018 and was announced. We provided 48 hours' notice of the inspection because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure staff would be available for us to talk to and that records would be accessible. The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

We asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) as part of this inspection process. 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 also checked the information we held about the service and the provider and saw that no concerns had been raised.

We visited the office on 6 February. We spoke with the care co-ordinator, senior carer and the manager. We looked at the care records for three people who used the service to see if they were reflective of their current needs. We reviewed three staff recruitment files and training records. We also looked at further records relating to the management of the service, including quality audits and service user feedback, in order to ensure that robust quality monitoring systems were in place.

On 12 February we telephoned seven people and spoke with four people who used the service and two relatives to obtain their views on the care and support provided by the agency.

Updated 21 March 2018

This was the first comprehensive inspection of this service since the provider initially registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May 2017. The provider started to provide care and support for people in November 2017 and this inspection took place on 6 and 12 February 2018.

Lead Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to adults with learning and physical disabilities and older people, including people living with dementia who live in their own homes. The agency works mainly within Cambridgeshire. At the time of our inspection there were fourteen people using the service.

The service had a registered manager. The registered manager had left in December 2017. The owner/provider was acting manager and had applied for registration. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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.

Whilst there was a recruitment process in place it required strengthening to ensure gaps in employment, verification of references and notes of interviews were documented. The manager had all the required documentation in place before the completion of the inspection.

People, and their relatives, told us they were happy with the care they received.

People told us they felt safe. People were protected from harm by staff that recognised the signs of abuse and were confident to raise concerns. Risk assessments were in place and there were enough staff to safely provide care and support.

People’s consent was sought before care was offered and the registered manager and staff were familiar with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Where required people were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a healthy diet and health professionals were contacted on people’s behalf if needed.

There were personalised care plans and assessments of potential risks to people and clear guidance for staff on responding to identified risks. People's care and support needs were kept under review to help ensure that they continued to be met.

People who used the service and their relatives told us the service was able to meet their needs.

People felt their views were listened to and staff supported them as individuals. People’s confidentiality was promoted as records were held securely.

People who used the service felt confident to raise any concerns and were confident that they would be managed appropriately. Staff said that they were fully supported by the manager.