Background to this inspection
Updated
11 June 2022
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
This inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
Registered Manager
This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
This inspection was announced. 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 before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We looked at information we hold about the service such as notifications of events, monitoring activities and registration information. We used this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager and requested a range of information relating to the safety and management of the service to review off site.
After the inspection
We reviewed four people's care records, risk assessments and related documentation. We looked at records for three members of staff in relation to recruitment, induction training, supervision and appraisal. We reviewed policies and procedures and other records relating quality assurance and the management of the service.
We spoke with one person using the service, two relatives and four members of care staff.
Updated
11 June 2022
About the service
Virtus Care LTD is a domiciliary care agency. At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support to five people. CQC only inspects services 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 and what we found
During this inspection we found the service had made improvements around the management of risks and quality assurance.
People told us they felt safe and trusted the staff providing care and support. People received help and support from a consistent and professional staff team.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and the provider supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the application of the policies and systems supported good practice.
The provider assessed the risks associated with people’s care and support needs and staff members were knowledgeable about these risks and knew what to do to minimise any potential for harm.
Risk assessments were reviewed when changes to people's health occurred and the provider worked in partnership with other health and social care professionals to optimise people's health, care and well-being.
People received safe support with their medicines by staff members who had been trained and assessed as competent to provide this support where it formed part of an agreed package of care.
Staff followed effective infection prevention and control procedures and had access to personal protective equipment (PPE).
Safe recruitment processes were being followed to ensure staff were suitable for their roles.
The provider operated effective quality monitoring systems and sought feedback from people using the service, family members, staff and healthcare professionals in order to continually improve standards of care.
The provider had policies and procedures in place including an appropriate complaints procedure.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (27 August 2019). At the time, we found a breach of regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) and made a recommendation in relation to the development and implementation of robust quality assurance systems. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced focused inspection of this service on 21 April 2022 to check the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led.
For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Virtus Care LTD on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.