Unique Options + Limited

Unique Options+ Limited is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to adults with a range of support needs who are living in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting six people with personal care.

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

People were very happy with the care they received, and they told us they felt safe when receiving care from the service. There were enough staff employed to ensure people received consistent and timely care. People told us they knew which staff would be visiting them, staff arrived at their agreed times and stayed and provided support for the agreed length of time.

Recruitment processes were in place and checks were completed before staff started working at the service. Some improvements to record keeping around recruitment were discussed, and these improvements had started to be implemented by the registered manager and provider. There were systems in place to ensure people’s medicines were managed safely and people were protected from the risk of infection.

Staff knew how to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and other identified risks to people were assessed and mitigated.

Before people started using the service, their needs and preferences were assessed, to ensure the service could provide the level of care each person wanted. 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. People were supported to eat, drink and maintain a balanced diet. People were supported by staff who received training and supervision to ensure they had the right knowledge and skills to support people effectively.

People were treated with respect by staff who were kind and caring. Care plans recorded how people were involved in their care. Their views and wishes were at the centre of their support. Care plans provided detailed direction to enable staff to deliver care which respected people's privacy and dignity. Daily notes recorded how staff encouraged people's independence.

People received personalised support from staff who knew them well. Staff had built positive relationships with the people they cared for and supported. Staff supported people to retain their independence and to remain involved in planning and reviewing their care. This helped to ensure care was provided in accordance with people’s preferences.

The service had an open culture. Staff at all levels displayed a desire to provide good quality, person-centred care to people. The registered manager regularly sought feedback from people to ensure the service was tailored to their needs and preferences. There were systems in place to monitor the quality and the safety of the service provided. However, some monitoring and staff record keeping needed to be more structured, embedded and sustained to ensure they remained effective.

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 CQC on 12 May 2020 and this was the service’s first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

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.