We carried out a review of the data available to us about Kulan Care Ltd on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Kulan Care Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Kulan care is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to people in their own home. At the time of our visit the service was providing personal care to two people.
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 the service
Risks to people were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff understood the actions needed to minimise the risk of avoidable harm including the prevention of avoidable infection. Staff had completed safeguarding training and understood their role in identifying and reporting any concerns of potential abuse or poor practice.
People had access to healthcare services and were involved in decisions about their care. Partnerships with other agencies and health professionals enabled people to achieve effective outcomes. Staff supported people to take medicines safely.
People's care was planned and risks to their safety and wellbeing were assessed. The agency reviewed these plans regularly, involving people in these reviews and asking for their opinions. They delivered good quality care which had led to improvements in people's health and well-being.
People and staff praised the manager of the service and agreed that they were approachable, knowledgeable, fair and did their job well. The staff team worked well together and supported the manager.
The staff team was committed to providing a high-quality service. They had undertaken training so that they were skilled and knowledgeable to effectively meet people’s needs. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and respected people’s privacy and dignity.
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.
Care plans contained information about each person’s individual support needs and preferences in relation to their care and support. Recruitment practices were safe and relevant checks had been completed before staff worked at the service.
People confirmed the service did not miss any care calls and that staff were always on time.
People received care and support from a small group of staff, which provided consistency.
The managers of the service actively sought the views of people and their relatives about the running of the service and they dealt promptly with any concerns that people raised.
The provider had systems in place to monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service provided. There was a positive culture throughout the service. Staff told us they enjoyed working at the service and felt valued.
More information is in the full report on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Rating at last inspection
At the last inspection we rated this service as Requires Improvement. The report was published on 26 November 2021.
Why we inspected
Our last inspection identified shortfalls related to the running of the service. The shortfalls we identified related to the lack of adequate assessment of risks to people's health and wellbeing and risks associated with delivering care. A further shortfall was that the agency had not completed mental capacity assessments to check whether people could make decisions about their care. At the last inspection, we found two breaches of legal requirements. We requested an action plan be sent to us to show us how the service was going to improve care. At this inspection we found improvements had been made in the areas of concern, and the breaches had been addressed.
We carried out a focused inspection of this service on 16 November 2022, this inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective and Well Led
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information, we may inspect sooner.
Kulan Care is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to people in their own home. People receiving a service included those with dementia, mental health, physical disabilities and learning disabilities. 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 our visit the service was providing personal care to four people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Kulan Care is a small provider in the process of establishing itself in the care at home field. Although we identified that some improvements were needed (as described in the safe, and effective domain) the provider had taken the necessary steps to provide individualised service and support for people. There was a continuity of care from the same staff providing people with care workers who knew their needs well. People and relatives confirmed this as they told us they were happy with the care provided by this service.
Some care documentation had limited information about details of how people wanted to receive their care. Some processes around medicines management, gathering references from previous employers and seeking people’s consent required further work to ensure they were fully established and consistent with health and social care regulations. We were assured that these shortfalls would be addressed. The registered manager provided us with evidence of engaging with an external consultant and their work on improvements. Seen documentation showed that this work started before our visit, and actions on improvements were scheduled for November and December 2021.
Staff knew how to protect people from harm. Staff had training in safeguarding people from abuse. Where people’s health had deteriorated or needed additional support, staff knew what action to take to ensure people received the necessary care. The registered manager deployed enough care staff to support people as agreed. There were effective infection prevention and control measures to protect people from the risk of infection, including COVID-19. The registered manager monitored staff COVID-19 testing participation to ensure they were COVID-19 free when visiting people.
All staff employed by the service had previous experience of supporting people at home. Staff received appropriate training to help them to maintain and further develop their skills to provide good care to people. People and relatives spoke positively about the care staff at Kulan Care. They described staff as kind and very experienced. Staff protected people's privacy and dignity when supporting them and encouraged people's independence as much as it was possible.
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.
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 1 October 2020 and this was the first inspection.
Why we inspected
We inspected Kulan Care as part of our inspection prioritisation programme. We carried out this inspection as we had not inspected this location since it was registered with us on 1 October 2020. We needed to carry out a comprehensive inspection to take an in-depth and holistic view across the whole service, looking at all five key questions to consider if the service is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.
Enforcement
We have identified breaches in relation to risk assessment process and the principles of the Mental Capacity Act.
Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.