Staffordshire

Updated 6 October 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 three inspectors and two Expert by Experiences. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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 we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

The inspection activity started on 05 July 2021 and ended on 09 July 2021. We visited the office location on 07 July 2021.

What we did before the inspection

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 reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority.

During the inspection

We spoke with eight people who used the service and 12 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 15 members of staff including the registered manager, the deputy manager, the quality assurance manager, the training manager and 11 care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included nine people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at 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.

Updated 6 October 2021

About the service

Staffordshire is a Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA) registered to provide personal care. People were supported with their personal care needs to enable them to live in their own homes and promote their independence. At the time of the inspection the service supported 97 people with personal care in their own homes.

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

People told us they often had different staff attending their care calls and staff told us there were not enough staff and did not have time to travel between their calls.

Although staff were trained and inducted, they felt they would benefit from more in-depth training to support people's health related needs, such as, diabetes training.

People told us they felt safe and said staff were kind and caring. Staff knew how to protect people from abuse, and they understood people’s risks and how to support them safely. People were supported to take their medicines safely by staff who had been trained.

People were protected from the risk of infection by staff using personal protective equipment.

People told us they were involved in the development of their care plans. Care plans were personalised and recorded detailed people's preferences.

People were supported with their nutritional needs. People were supported to access other health professionals to ensure their needs were met in line with their requirements.

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.

The service operated an open and transparent culture and senior staff ensured the service strived to ensure improvements were made to the provision of the service, through feedback received and audits which were carried out.

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 23/08/2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our published methodology for inspections.

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.