Background to this inspection
Updated
8 October 2019
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 conducted by one inspector and an Expert by Experience [ExE]. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The ExE had experience of care for older people.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission who was also the registered provider. This means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. There was also a domiciliary care manager, who was responsible for the day to day management of the service and was applying to be registered with CQC. The domiciliary manager will be referred to as ‘the manager’ throughout this report as they were present throughout the inspection.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the manager or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection site visit activity started on 4 September 2019 and ended on 4 September 2019. We visited the office location on 4 September 2019.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications. Notifications are information about specific important events the service is legally required to send to us. We also 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 12 people who used the service and two relatives of people about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, the domiciliary manager, the business operations manager and office staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included eight people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three 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 spoke with four members of care staff by telephone. We reviewed records relating to staff training and supervision and, quality assurance records and staff meetings.
Updated
8 October 2019
About the 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.