Caremark Central Bedfordshire

Updated 21 January 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector and one 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.

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 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 4 January 2022 and ended on 11 January 2022.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered with the Commission. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch England. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

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 six people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager and care workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with two professionals who regularly work with the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and 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.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as telephone and video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Updated 21 January 2022

About the service

Caremark Central Bedfordshire is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people 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.

The service was supporting 26 people. At the time of the inspection, 16 people were being supported with personal care.

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

People were happy with the care and felt safe with the way staff supported them, which they said was kind, caring and respectful. One person told us, “[Staff] are always friendly and have a smile ready. They are cheerful and extremely polite; they always start the day with a good morning. I am very happy. [Staff] present with patience.”

Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were assessed and staff understood what they were doing and how to identify and report any concerns. People told us they were reassured and felt safe from the risks of infection and COVID-19. This was because staff washed their hands regularly and always wore makes, gloves and aprons when supporting them.

People felt listened to and were happy to speak to the registered manager or staff team if they had a complaint. They told us staff were approachable and any concerns were resolved quickly.

People’s care was planned to be personalised and they told us they were fully involved in the planning and review of their care. The staff team were flexible when anything changed and regularly sought people’s views about this. People told us their medicines, meals and drinks were all provided correctly in ways they preferred.

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 registered manager ensured all staff had been checked prior to employment to make sure they were suitable for their role and people would be safe. Staff received full training and induction and took time shadowing other staff. This was so they could get to know people well and how they liked things to be done before providing their care.

The registered manager and staff team followed all the current government guidance and legislation to make sure they were following best practice.

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

Rating

This service was registered with us on 15 May 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.

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.