We carried out a review of the data available to us about Platinum Care Solutions on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Platinum Care Solutions, you can give feedback on this service.
Platinum care Solutions is domiciliary care agency which provides support and personal care to people living in their own home. 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. At the time of our inspection 73 people were receiving a regulated activity from Platinum Care Solutions.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People and their relatives told us they were happy with the care provided and staff were caring and compassionate.
People told us they received safe care and treatment. Risk assessments were completed for people which identified any risks. These were managed well. Care staff understood the importance of safeguarding people they supported, and they knew how to report any signs of abuse, or any accidents and incidents.
Staff had completed training in the safe administration of medicines. People were encouraged to maintain their independence and, where required, protocols were in place to support people to self-administer their own medicines. People were happy with how they were supported around their medicines.
The provider utilised a values-based recruitment process, which encouraged a diverse workforce with varying skills and backgrounds and considered their ability to provide person centred care and meet people’s human rights. There were sufficient numbers of staff to keep people safe. Staff had received appropriate training and support to enable them to meet people’s needs.
Most people told us staff visited as planned and they were punctual. The management team had processes for monitoring visits and endeavoured to ensure that office staff contacted people when care staff were held up or were running late for visits.
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 told us they felt listened to and told us staff were caring and kind. Care staff were skilled in delivering people's care in the way they preferred, and which improved their quality of life.
People's care plans showed that their care needs had been assessed, and they received good quality care from staff who understood the type of support they needed and promoted their independence.
People were encouraged to maintain good health and well-being, and the service supported people to access their GP and attend regular health checks.
People and their relatives understood how to make a complaint. Staff were supported by a management team who had a clear vision for the service. Systems and processes were in place to monitor the service and identify and drive improvement. To ensure people using the service
were supported in the most effective way, the service worked in partnership with other health and social care organisations.
People and their relatives provided positive feedback about the registered manager, office staff and individual members of the care staff. One said, “All the carers [staff] are very kind and friendly.”
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 (report published 31 January 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.
This inspection took place on 16 and 21 November 2016 and was announced. We last inspected this service in November 2013, at which time we found them to be meeting all the regulations.
The service had a manager who intended to apply to become the registered manager with the Commission. However the service had been without a registered manager since April 2016 which is a condition of their registration. 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.
People told us they felt safe living at their homes with support from staff. Staff understood their responsibilities to report any safeguarding concerns to the manager.
People and staff told us they felt there were enough staff employed at the service and we confirmed this through records.
Risks had been identified and measures put in place to minimise the risks to people and staff, although the process around risks needed to be updated. We have made a recommendation about this.
Policies and procedures were in place to support the smooth running of the service and these were in the process of being updated. Personal emergency evacuation plans were in place and regular checks on the safety of people’s homes were carried out.
People told us that staff managed their medicines safely although records needed to be improved. We have made a recommendation about this.
Accidents and incidents were recorded and monitored and where appropriate, care records showed that risks associated with individual care needs had been assessed and were monitored.
There was evidence to demonstrate that regular reviews of people's needs were carried out and the information was passed onto the support workers and other health and social care professionals where appropriate. Regular surveys were used to gather feedback from people about the service they received.
People told us they were supported by staff to maintain a well-balanced healthy diet. We found staff were trained and received induction, supervision and annual appraisal from the management team.
People were respected and their dignity was maintained. Staff displayed kind and caring attitudes and treated people as individuals. People’s care needs were detailed, recorded and reviewed by staff with input from people, relatives and other relevant individuals. Three staff were nominated for the regional 'Great British Care Awards', with one making it through to the finals after winning the regional event.
Staff offered people a choice in all aspects of daily life. Staff promoted social inclusion and supported people to maintain links with family and friends where possible. People told us they knew how to complain and would feel confident to do so if necessary.
Staff told us they worked well as a team. They felt supported by the manager and the provider who staff said were approachable and made them feel valued.
Audits and checks of the service were in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service, although the provider did not always fully record the checks that they had completed. We have made a recommendation about this.
We spoke with the home care supervisor, the recruitment administrator and support worker, the office advocate and the training manager. One staff member told us 'It's very supportive here. There's always someone to talk to, even out of hours.'
People were informed about the service provided, and were involved in their care.
We looked at three care files, for people with varying support needs. We found that the planning and delivery of care promoted peoples' choices, dignity and independence, and was flexible to meet their needs.
People who used the service were protected because there were good systems in place to make sure staff were aware of the possibility of abuse and knew what action to take in the event of a suspicion or allegation.
There were effective systems in place to ensure people were safe because staff were subject to rigorous recruitment procedures and a thorough induction.