Kingsley Home Care Services Limited

Updated 23 March 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides the regulated activity of personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager, but they were not yet registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means the provider was legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we wanted to get details of staff and people using the service so we could contact them ahead of the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 7 March 2022 and ended on 9 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information held about the service including the provider information return completed and returned 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with three relatives and one person using the service about their experiences. We spoke with the manager and head of care. We spoke with one member of staff and sent questionnaires to three members of staff. We also spoke with a health care professional. We conducted a virtual inspection and requested documentation including policies, staffing rotas, training records and supervision records. We requested a preadmission assessment and care plan.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider and requested additional evidence.

Updated 23 March 2022

About the service

Kingsley Home Care Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service provided personal care and support to four people. They provided companionship visits to another three people.

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

The service had been registered since July 2020 but following COVID 19 a number of people cancelled their care and the service was dormant for a while. It has only recently become established. The previous manager had left, and a new manager was appointed at the beginning of February 2022.

People were positive about their experiences of the agency and said it was both reliable and person-centred. People had confidence with the care staff, but one relative told us there had been regular staff turnover. Their family member had three different care staff in the last six months as staff had left, but emphasised they had all been very good. Two care packages could not continue to be fulfilled and were handed back to the Local Authority due to staffing shortages. This had a negative impact on the people requiring care, but the service had done all it could to help ensure alternative care was found and people were not left without care.

Staff spoken with were confident about the service they were providing and said the induction, training and care practices particularly around infection control were very good. The head of care told us they were expanding the service slowly, and carefully assessing any new referrals to ensure they had the right staffing in place and staff with the right competencies.

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 manager and head of care regularly sought feedback from people and their relatives about the care delivered so this could be adapted where necessary.

There were clear processes in place to escalate concerns and people and staff were confident that things would be effectively resolved. There were systems in place to protect people from harm and abuse and staff understood actions they should take if abuse was identified.

A robust electronic system was in place to plan, monitor and track care calls. The service was well planned and well delivered with no late or missed calls.

Care reviews were taking place regularly to ensure the effectiveness and responsiveness of care and preadmission assessment were robust.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 22 July 2020 and this is the 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