Archived: My Choice Companions

Updated 8 January 2020

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

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 houses, flats and sheltered housing.

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 before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from local authority commissioners of service and safeguarding teams. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We talked by telephone with people about their experience of the care and support provided. This included four people who used the service and three relatives. We spoke with four care workers, the registered manager and nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We looked at a variety of service records. This included three people's care records, two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision records. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including complaints records, meeting records and quality monitoring checks. Policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We received further information from the registered manager and nominated individual to support the evidence we found. We reviewed training information, the staff-handbook and care records.

Updated 8 January 2020

About the service

My Choice-Companions Ltd is a small domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to older people, people with a dementia, physical disabilities, mental ill health and learning disabilities, living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 13 people were receiving care or support.

People's experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives told us they felt safe with the service. However, some risks to individuals and their environment had not been fully considered and managed. We made a recommendation on risk assessments and risk management. Staff were aware of the signs and indicators of abuse, they knew what to do if they had any concerns. Recruitment practices made sure checks were carried out before staff started work. There were enough suitable staff available to provide safe care and support. Staff followed processes to manage people's medicines safely.

Although people were happy with the support they received, there were some shortfalls with ensuring staff had sufficient skills and knowledge to respond to people’s needs. We made a recommendation on staff training and development. The registered manager involved people with an assessment of their needs before they used the service.

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 supported with meals in line with their support plan. Staff worked in partnership with healthcare professionals as appropriate.

People had care records to respond to their needs and choices. Some care plans were lacking in detail to ensue all needs and choices were met. We made a recommendation on person-centre care planning. People did not have any complaints about the service they received. They had access to a complaint's procedure and were confident they could raise any complaints and concerns. Processes were in place to sensitively support people as needed, with end of life care.

Everyone expressed satisfaction with the service. But, we found the provider's systems to monitor and review the quality of care, had not been properly used. We made a recommendation on quality monitoring processes. Management and leadership arrangements supported the day to day running of the service. The registered manager and nominated individual were keen to develop the service.

People made positive comments about the caring and friendly attitude of staff. They said their privacy and dignity was respected. Staff were respectful of people's choices and opinions. They had an awareness of their individual needs. Staff had enough time to support people and listen to them. Arrangements were in place to help ensure people had support from the same staff, at an agreed time.

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

Why we inspected

This service was registered with us on 14/11/2018 and this was the first inspection based on our inspection programme.

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.