Care Cover

Updated 13 August 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Care Coveris a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. The registered manager was also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

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.

We visited the agency's office on 13 July 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed all the information we had received about this service since its registration with us in 2019. We used all this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed records including three people’s care plans and risk assessments, staff files and recruitment records. We spoke with one person using the service and three relatives by telephone. We also spoke with two staff members to gain their views about the service.

After the inspection

We requested further information and evidence from the provider. This included information in relation to staffing and training, auditing and governance. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to corroborate evidence found.

Updated 13 August 2022

About the service

Care Cover is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people in their own homes.

CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. There were five people receiving personal care at the time of this inspection.

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

People spoke positively about the care and support they received from the registered manager and staff team. They were protected from the risk of abuse by staff who had completed safeguarding training and knew to report any concerns and allegations. The provider followed safe recruitment practices. The service deployed enough staff to meet people’s needs. Risks associated with people’s care were assessed and guidelines were in place for staff on supporting people to manage the identified risks. People received the support they needed to manage their medicines safely. Staff followed safe infection control practices.

People’s needs were assessed before they started using the service. People’s care plans reflected their individual needs and preferences. People were able to maintain the relationships which were important to them to reduce the risk of social isolation. The provider had a complaints procedure and people expressed confidence that any complaints they raised would be addressed.

Staff sought consent from people when offering care. 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 supported in their roles through induction, training and staff supervision.

People had access to a range of healthcare services in order to maintain good health. They were supported to maintain a balanced diet, when needed. Staff worked with other agencies to ensure people received effective care.

People and staff spoke positively about the culture of the service. The registered manager and staff understood the responsibilities of their roles. The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service which helped to drive service improvements. The provider sough feedback from people, their relatives, staff and other professionals. This feedback was used to develop 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

This service was registered with us on 4 December 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.