Reliance Care Services Cambridge

Updated 23 June 2021

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 and flats.

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.

Inspection activity started on 05 May 2021 and ended on 19 May 2021. We visited the office location on 05 May 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority, Healthwatch and professionals who work with the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection-

We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, care coordinators and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 23 June 2021

About the service

Reliance Care Services Cambridge provides care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection they were providing a service to 42 people. This included help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects 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

Since our last inspection improvements had been made to ensure that new staff were only employed once all their recruitment checks had been returned.

Risk assessments were in place to reduce risks to people’s health and safety where possible. Staff were aware of who they should contact if they suspected anyone had been harmed. All staff completed training in the administration of medicines and their competency was assessed to ensure they had the right skills, knowledge and followed the correct procedures.

Staff knew people well and were aware of how they would like to be supported. Information was available in accessible formats for anyone that needed it. Concerns and complaints were investigated fully, and action taken when needed.

The registered manager was aware of their responsibilities. There was an effective quality assurance system in place which identified areas for improvements and planned any actions that were needed.

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 (report published August 2019).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. 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 comprehensive inspection of this service in May 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve the safe recruitment of staff.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they 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, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. 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 Reliance Care Services Cambridge on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.