Archived: Carmel Domiciliary Care Limited

Updated 13 July 2019

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 provides care and support to people living in three supported living settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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

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.

Inspection activity started on 14 June 2019 and ended on 17 June 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information and the statutory notifications we had received about the service since the last inspection in September 2016. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and five members of staff and the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four 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. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We spoke with one professional who had been in contact with the service.

Updated 13 July 2019

About the service

Carmel Domiciliary Care Ltd provides personal care to people with mental health needs who live in supported living accommodation. People generally share a home with up to five other people. The service supported six people with personal care at the time of this inspection. 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

People told us they felt safe amongst staff and praised the caring nature of the staff who supported them. Staff understood people’s physical and mental health needs and related risks well and supported people with dignity and respect. Staff encouraged people to maintain relationships with family members when safe to do so.

Care records reflected people’s care needs, and care was being delivered in line with current practices. People’s personal risks had been assessed and were being monitored to ensure they remained safe and free from harm or abuse. People received their medicines as prescribed and were supported to attend health care appointments. Staff liaised with health care professionals and services to help people maintain their physical and mental health and reduce any risks.

Staff provided personalised care which was responsive to people’s needs. People were supported to progress in their well-being and build up their confidence and levels of independence. They told us they enjoyed and had access to a range of activities of their choice. 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.

Any concerns, and complaints received by the registered manager and staff were investigated and acted on. Staff supported people to address any concerns about their accommodation to their landlords.

Sufficient numbers of suitably recruited staff were available to support people. Staff had been trained and supported to carry out their role. Effective systems were used to monitor the service and provision of personal care. Staff spoke positively about the support of the registered manager and felt the service was well led. A new provider supported the registered manager to run the service and meet their regulatory requirements. The registered manager and staff acted on concerns and learnt from and took actions in relation to accidents, incidents, complaints and feedback from people to improve people’s experiences of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection: The last rating for this service was Good (published November 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the previous rating. We undertook a focused inspection in March 2017 to follow on the breach of legal requirements found at our inspection in September 2016 and to check the provider had followed their action plan and met legal requirements. This inspection confirmed that the improvements found in March 2017 had been sustained.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Carmel Domiciliary Care Limited 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.