6 August 2014
During a routine inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008, and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service.
Surecare is a domiciliary care agency supplying care services within a person's own home. Surecare provides care for people of a range of ages and with a variety of different care needs. At the time of our inspection on 6 August 2014 85 people were using the service.
A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider. At the time of our inspection there was a manager in post but they were not yet registered with the Care Quality Commission.
People told us that they felt safe with staff working for the service and had no concerns about how they were treated. They felt that staff worked in ways that that ensured their health and safety such as using equipment correctly.
People’s needs were assessed with their involvement and care was planned and delivered in accordance with their wishes. This showed us that the service sought to work with people and support their needs in ways that they preferred.
Staff had the knowledge and skills that they needed to support people. They received training to enable them to understand people’s diverse needs and work in ways that were safe and protected people. Staff received some on-going support but this needed to be made more consistent. Not all staff had regular opportunities for one to one supervision to discuss any practice issues or training needs. Staff had a good awareness of emergency procedures so that they would act properly to support people in the event of an emergency.
When the service took on new staff they ensured that proper checks were carried out to ensure that staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people.
The service had procedures in place to ensure that when people needed help to manage their medicines, this was done safely with proper records kept.
Staff spoken with demonstrated a caring approach to their role and told us that they enjoyed their work. They outlined their working practices which showed us that staff worked in ways that respected people’s privacy, dignity and individuality.
People spoken with showed us that people were able to complain or raise any concerns if they needed to. We saw that where people had raised issues that these were taken seriously and dealt with appropriately.
There were systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The service worked well with the local authority that contracted with them and had regular meetings and quality reviewing processes in place. However, we found that the service needed to improve their practice in working with the Care Quality Commission in order that we were provided with information when needed or requested.