Cheshire Home Care Solutions Limited

Updated 10 April 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care 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:

Cheshire Home Care Solutions Limited is a is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with CQC. 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 visit. This is because it is a small service and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in the office when we visited.

What we did:

Our planning considered all the information we held about the service. This information included notifications the provider had sent us, to notify us about incidents such as safeguarding concerns, complaints and accidents. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also contacted the commissioners of the service to gain their views.

The provider had completed a provider information return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. This information formed part of our inspection planning document.

During the inspection, we spoke with six people who were receiving support and four relatives. We also spoke with the registered manager and three members of staff.

We also checked four care records of people who were being supported, recruitment records for four members of staff and other records relating to the management and quality monitoring of the service.

Updated 10 April 2019

About the service: Cheshire Home Care Solutions Limited is a domiciliary care agency supporting people who are living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 21 people were receiving support from the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

The registered manager monitored and assessed the overall quality of service. Although quality assurance systems and processes were in place, audits and checks could be further improved to strengthen this area of care.

We recommend that quality assurance processes are further reviewed.

People were encouraged to share their thoughts, views and opinions about the provision of care being provided and areas of improvement that needed to be addressed.

People’s level of risk was assessed from the outset; risk was safely managed and staff were familiar with the care and support people required.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. The registered manager had safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures in place. Staff told us how and why they would report their concerns and the importance of keeping people safe.

Medication procedures were safely in place. All staff had completed medication training and the registered manager was in the process of assessing competency levels of the staff team. Staff had access to the medication policies and procedures and medication practices were routinely audited.

An infection control policy and procedure was in place. Staff had access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and understood the importance of complying with infection prevention control measures.

We received positive feedback about the continuity of care people received. People told us they received care and support from regular staff who were familiar with their support needs.

Safe recruitment procedures were in place. The appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out and people received care and support from staff who were deemed suitable to work in an adult social care environment.

Staff were supported with training, learning and development opportunities. Training was up to date and staff received regular supervision and annual appraisals.

The registered provider complied with the principles the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. Staff understood and respected people’s right to make their own decisions where possible and encouraged people to make decisions about the care they received.

People received high-quality, person-centred care from staff who were kind, compassionate and respectful. People were supported to remain as independent as possible and were encouraged to make decisions about the care and support they received.

A person-centred approach to care was evident. Staff were familiar with people’s likes, wishes and preferences. We received positive feedback about the quality of care people received.

There was an up to date complaints policy in place; people were familiar with the complaints process and told us they would feel confident raising any concerns they may have.

Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection since the registered provider had registered with The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in February 2018

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection as part of CQCs inspection schedule.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor all intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.