Prioritising Peoples Lives - Scarborough

Updated 29 October 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one 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 supported by the operations manager. The operations manager was in the process of registering 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 manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 12 October 2021 and ended on the 20 October 2021. We visited the office location on 12 October 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We contacted the local authority commissioning and safeguarding team and Healthwatch for their feedback. 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 the manger, the operations manager and the manging director. We reviewed two people's care and medication records and an electronic care plan used as point of reference by staff. We looked at two staff files, staff training and staff supervision records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including survey outcomes, quality audits and service checks were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with two people who use the service, eight relatives and one person who was a primary carer. We spoke with five members of staff.

Updated 29 October 2021

About the service

Prioritising People's Lives Limited - Whitby is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 22 people.

People who use the service may not always receive 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 told us they felt safe and well supported. Staff followed procedures to keep people safe. Known risks had been assessed and were regularly reviewed.

Staff received appropriate training and support to carry out their roles. People were supported to take their medicines safely as prescribed and staff followed good infection prevention and control practice.

People provided their consent to, and were involved with, planning their care and support. People’s preferences were recorded and wherever possible staff supported people to maintain their independence.

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 treated people with respect and upheld their privacy and dignity. People described staff as kind and caring and relatives told us their family members were in safe hands. People received their support from regular staff who they knew.

Staff had access to clear and concise care records which were updated in real time. Where appropriate, relatives had access to daily notes about people’s care and support. This provided relatives with assurances their loved ones were in good hands.

The provider completed a range of audits and checks to ensure systems and processes remained effective and to identify any areas that could be improved. People and staff were approached for their feedback and information received was used for the benefit of their care and support.

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 12/06/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to assess the standard of care delivered by the service and award a rating.

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.