United Care (UK) Ltd

Ratings

• Overall

  Good

• Safe

  Good

• Effective

  Good

• Caring

  Good

• Responsive

  Good

• Well-led

  Good

Our view of the service

United Care (UK) Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing support to people who live in their own home. They provide support with personal care. This is where people receive help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 10 people. This service registered with us on 2 October 2013. We had previously inspected this service in 2019. As a result of that inspection we rated the safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led domains as good. We had also rated the service as good overall.

This was a planned inspection of the safe and well-led key questions. We visited the providers office base, spoke with staff, people who use the service and their carers. We also looked at a range of documentation relating to how the service was provided. As a result of this inspection our ratings did not change.

Whilst the manager had been in post since 2018, they had not registered with CQC. We raised this with the provider during our assessment. The provider told us they would take action to address this without further delay.

Steps had been taken to safeguard people from abuse and risk assessments were in place to help mitigate risks people faced. There were enough staff to support people and robust staff recruitment practices were in place. Medicines were managed in a way that was safe. The provider followed good practice in relation to infection prevention and control. The provider had various quality assurance and monitoring systems in place to help drive improvements. Staff and people who used the service spoke positively about the leadership team and there was a shared and open culture at the service.

People's experience of this service

People and relatives we spoke with were very positive about the service and the support they experienced. Comments included, ‘exceptional’, ‘very capable’ and ‘knowing what they’re doing’. People experienced support that was safe and well-led. Support was person-centred and provided by caring and competent staff. The manager was accessible to people. People told us staff worked in partnership with them, consulting them about their care. One person said, “They ask me if they can shower me, one day I was lazy and didn’t want one, but that was ok. I’m happy with them.” A relative told us how other agencies were involved. They said, “The Local Authority and palliative care team assessed (relative) and allocated the amount of care.