We Care Agency Ltd

Updated 19 September 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

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.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they registered. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We met with the registered manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We looked at care records for 4 people who used the service and 5 staff files for recruitment, training, and support records. We looked at other records the provider used for managing the service. As part of the inspection, we spoke with 2 people, 2 relatives and 4 staff to receive feedback of their experience of the service.

Updated 19 September 2023

About the service

We Care Agency Limited is a domiciliary care agency and is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, the agency was providing a service of personal care to 7 people. 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 felt safe, there were processes in place to safeguard people from abuse. There was guidance for staff to keep people safe from harm. One relative said, "Staff are well trained and we would speak to the managers if we had any concerns.” Staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, disposable gloves and aprons. Staff understood their responsibilities and could recognise and report abuse.

People's care needs were assessed and reviewed. Staff completed training to know how to care for people effectively. 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's privacy, dignity and independence were respected and promoted. One person told us, "The staff are very caring and understanding of my support needs." The provider operated effective systems to monitor and improve the quality of the service. The registered manager responded appropriately where quality and safety were being compromised and improvements were made.

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

The last rating for this service was good (published 16 August 2018).

Why we inspected

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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for We Care Agency on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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