Wellspring Care

Updated 30 July 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

The inspection team consisted of 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 24 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 29 June 2021 and ended on 9 July 2021. We visited the office location on 5 July 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We also 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and the administrator, who both provided care to people. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including two people’s care records, three staff files, training and quality assurance records.

After the inspection

The provider sent us additional information, as requested. We had contact with one person, one relative and three members of staff.

Updated 30 July 2021

About the service

Wellspring Care is a small domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection, the service was providing care to five people.

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

This was a very small service, focused on providing personalised care. People were positive about the care, in particular about how approachable the registered manager was.

There were effective checks to monitor the quality and safety each person received. The registered manager took prompt action when concerns were raised. They were still developing systems to measure themes and log incidents and concerns over time. We have made a recommendation about developing good governance systems.

The registered manager carried out risk and needs assessments with people and their representatives. They had a good understanding on how to minimise risk and provide good quality care. They shared this knowledge verbally with staff; however, written care plans lacked detail. This had minimal impact on people as staff knew them well and the registered manager was heavily involved in care. We have made a recommendation about developing good quality care plans.

Safeguarding practices protected people from the risk of abuse. Staff supported people to take their medicines safely, and as prescribed.

There were enough safely recruited staff to support people, in line with their needs and preferences. The registered manager was purchasing a new electronic system to support them to manage staffing and enable them to grow the service in a sustained and safe manner. Staff were well supported and trained. The registered manager was enthusiastic about staff training.

Staff supported people to eat and drink. The registered manager supported people’s wellbeing in a holistic manner, referring for support to external professionals when necessary. The registered manager had worked effectively to reduce the risk of infection from COVID-19.

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.

Staff were compassionate and respectful. Staff communicated with people in a way they understood. The registered manager promoted dignified care. Care was personalised and adapted flexibly in response to people’s changing needs.

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 26 March 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection of a newly registered 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.