Your Choice Care & Support Ltd

Updated 17 March 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector, an assistant inspector, and an Expert by Experience. 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 24 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.

Inspection activity started on 02 March 2022 and ended on 03 March 2022. We visited the office location on 02 March 2022 and spoke with relatives of people receiving care and support on 03 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we held about the service and the provider which included any statutory notifications sent to the CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we reviewed four people's care plan and risk assessments. We looked at medicine administration records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, training and staff supervision. We also reviewed other records relating to the management of the service, including complaints records and management audits. We spoke with the registered manager, the manager, care-coordinator and four care staff. We spoke with seven people and four relatives of people who were receiving personal care and support about their experience of the care provided.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We further reviewed training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 17 March 2022

About the service

Your Choice Care is a community-based care provider that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of inspection 26 people were receiving a service and were in receipt of the regulated activity of personal care.

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 and their relatives spoke positively about staff and told us they were happy with the service they received. People told us staff were friendly, they were treated with kindness and compassion and their privacy and dignity was respected.

Risks were assessed and monitored, which reduced the risk of avoidable harm. Where we identified some risk assessments lacked detail, this was addressed by the registered manager immediately after the inspection.

There were sufficient staff to support people and safe recruitment procedures were followed.

People were supported by staff who had been appropriately trained and were skilled in their role. Staff told us they were regularly supported through supervision.

People told us they felt safe with staff. Effective systems were in place to ensure people's safety. There were systems to help protect people from abuse and to investigate any allegations, incidents or accidents.

People received person-centred care and assessments of people's care and support needs were carried out before they started using the service. People received support to maintain good health and were supported to maintain a balanced diet where this was part of their plan of 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 understood the importance of respecting people's diverse needs and promoting independence.

The registered manager had effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the care provided. Spot checks were carried out to monitor staff performance. People were asked for their views and their suggestions were used to improve the service and make any necessary changes.

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 25 February 2020, and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection for this newly registered service.

Follow up

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