Initial Care Services South East Limited

Updated 23 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 carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Initial Care Services South East Limited is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care and support for people in their own homes. The agency provided personal care and support for four people who are living in the community.

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 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:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse 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, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We contacted healthcare professionals for feedback. We received feedback from two social workers. We took this information into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

During the inspection, we spoke with two people who used the service, three care workers and the provider who was also the registered manager. The registered manager also carried out direct support in people’s homes whenever there was need to do so.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records, risk assessments, daily records and medicine records. We also looked at two staff files including their recruitment, supervision and training records. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service, quality assurance records and a variety of policies and procedures implemented by the provider. We also looked at other records the provider kept, such as staff meetings minutes and surveys they completed to share their views.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We received the training data, reviewed risk assessments and care guidelines sent to us in a timely manner.

Updated 23 October 2019

About the service:

Initial Care Services South East Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support for people in their own homes. The agency is a new service, which provides care and support for people in Medway and Kent areas. At the time of our inspection, there were 19 people using the service.

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.

People’s experience of using this service:

People received safe care and support from Initial Care Services South East Limited. The registered manager and staff we spoke with knew what their responsibilities were in relation to keeping people safe from the risk of abuse.

Care plans contained detailed risk assessments. Risk to people’s health and wellbeing were addressed and mitigated. Environmental risk assessments were also in place, which identified and reduced any environmental risks to people and staff.

Staff were skilled in carrying out their role. The registered manager ensured staff were appropriately trained.

People told us staff communicated well with them and they felt at ease with them.

People’s needs were assessed prior to receiving a service including their protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010.

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 were cared for by staff who treated them with kindness, dignity and respect.

People were encouraged to raise any concerns they had or make suggestions to improve the service they received.

The service had an effective system in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided.

Staff told us there was an open culture where they were kept informed about any changes to their role. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable and listened to their ideas and suggestions.

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

Rating at last inspection:

This service was registered with us on 19 January 2018. They started providing services from January 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection.

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.