• Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Realcare+ Limited

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

58 St. Marys Butts, Reading, RG1 2LG (0118) 983 9000

Provided and run by:
Realcare + Limited

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 20 August 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 carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the registered manager 4 days notice of the inspection visit to ensure the registered manager and senior staff were available to speak to us. Inspection activity started on 2 July 2019 and ended on 12 July 2019. We visited the office location on 9 July and 12 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse, serious injury or when a person dies.

We 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, 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 two people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager and a clinical lead. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included care plans and associated records for seven people, three staff recruitment files, the provider’s business continuity plan, staff rotas, the staff training matrix, staff supervision records, records of staff meetings, quality assurance documents and audits and three people’s medicines administration record.

After the inspection we reviewed further information we requested from the registered manager including two people’s medicines administration records, risk assessments and end of life care plans for two people. We spoke with two members of care staff and one registered nurse. We contacted a further two members of care staff but received no responses from them. One member of staff was not able to speak to us. We also contacted six health care professionals. We received responses from two health care professionals.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 20 August 2019

About the service

Realcare+ Limited is a home care service providing personal and nursing care to 10 people living in their own homes.

Not everyone using the service received regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care, that is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating, as well as nursing care. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

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

The recording related to medicines management needed to be more robust. Documents used to record people's medicines had not been completed correctly. The registered manager has put in place an action plan to address this since the inspection. We made a recommendation around ensuring the service followed medicines management best practice.

People were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. There were enough suitably skilled and qualified staff to support people and meet their needs.

People were supported by skilled staff with the right knowledge and training.

Staff had developed caring bonds with people and upheld their privacy, dignity and independence.

People’s care and support met their needs and reflected their preferences. Staff upheld people’s human rights.

There were clear, robust processes for managing quality and safety in the service.

There was strong leadership in the service and a positive, empowering culture. Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

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 (published on 17 October 2016). The rating at this inspection was Good.

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.