Background to this inspection
Updated
2 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 team consisted on one inspector, and two experts by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using services or cares for someone who lives with dementia.
Service and service type: Caremark Plymouth is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The agency supports 159 people.
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. We needed to be sure that managers would be available to facilitate the inspection.
Inspection site visit activity started on 04 February 2019 and ended on 11 February 2019. We visited the office location on these days to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did: The provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). Providers are required to send us key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We also looked at notifications they had made to us about important events. In addition, we reviewed all other information sent to us from other stakeholders for example the local authority and members of the public.
During the inspection we contacted and spoke to:
• Thirty-six people using the service
• Ten members of staff
We looked at:
• Notifications we received from the service
• Policy and procedures
• Four people’s care records
• Records of accidents, incidents, complaints and compliments
• Training and personnel records
• Audits and quality assurance reports
Updated
2 April 2019
About the service: Caremark (Plymouth) provides personal care in people's homes to adults within Plymouth and surrounding rural areas. Caremark (Plymouth) is a franchise of the Caremark Group which has 84 offices in the UK and nine offices overseas (Ireland and Malta).
People’s experience of using this service:
People were truly respected and valued as individuals, by an exceptional and distinctive service.
People consistently told us how they were treated with exceptional kindness, compassion and respect. We received overwhelmingly positive feedback on how staff were supportive and went the extra mile to get care just right for people. One person told us, “All the staff are exceptional; the care
they give is second to none. They are of the highest standard. I feel totally safe and cherished in their care”.
The providers values of compassion, integrity and professionalism were strongly imbedded within the leadership, governance and culture of the service. All staff showed a love and passion for
people, keeping them at the heart of the service and in charge of their own care. One member of
staff told us, "I came into care, because I wanted to make people feel good every day, I love the
people I go to see".
The provider promoted an open and fair culture and was responsive and innovative to changes in the health and social care sector to ensure people’s care was delivered in line with best practice.
There were positive, respectful working relationships with external professionals. There was a passion for continuous learning, improvement and sustainability. The service had received a large number of awards both internally and from stakeholders, in recognition of delivering continuous high-quality care and support for people.
People were kept safe and protected from avoidable harm and abuse.
People received good personalised care and support, and had their human rights protected.
More information is in Detailed Findings below.
Rating at last inspection: Good. (published 07 October 2016).
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.
Follow up: Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Outstanding.