Comfort Care

Updated 18 March 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older people living in their own houses and flats.

The service did have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means 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 the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 12 February 2020 and ended on 20 February 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they registered with CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority.

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.

During the inspection

We spoke with the four people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager and nominated individual. We reviewed a range of records. This included two care records and two 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.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 18 March 2020

About the service

Comfort Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care in people’s own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing care and support to 15 people.

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

People who used the service were generally happy with the care and support they received. They consistently told us staff were kind and they received support from the same core group of staff, which promoted good continuity of care. Staff clearly knew how to provide personalised and safe care.

The service was run by an experienced registered manager who was committed to providing good quality care. Audit processes supported good service delivery, with some minor improvements needed to people’s call schedules to ensure these were consistently well-managed. The registered manager was very open to constructive challenge and after the inspection they sent a list of actions of how they intended to improve aspects of the service, including people’s call schedules.

Risks were assessed, and staff followed guidance to safely support people. We saw care coordinators were sometimes involved in care delivery, so they had a good oversight of people’s care. People who used the service said they were regularly consulted by staff about their care and felt listened to.

People were supported by staff who were competent and skilled. Staff were trained to administer people’s medicines safely and to identify and report any safeguarding concerns. Staff asked people for their consent before providing them with any care. People who used the service 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.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 23/01/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the registration date of the service

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.