Tracy's Care@Home Limited

Updated 24 February 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post who is also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

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 8 February 2022 and ended on 8 February 2022. We visited the location’s office/service on 8 February 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 18 November 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people who used the service to find out their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 3 members of staff including 2 care workers and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records which included 2 care plans, 2 staff recruitment files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

Updated 24 February 2023

About the service

Tracy’s Care@Home is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 4 people using the service. 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 were cared for safely. Staff knew how to keep people safe from abuse or harm. Risks to people’s health had been assessed and plans were in place to reduce any risks identified. People received their medicines safely and there were effective practices to protect people from infection. Safe recruitment practices were in place and people were assured they had regular staff who supported them.

We made a recommendation about assessment of fire and health and safety risks in people’s homes.

Needs were assessed prior to people receiving support and their independence was promoted. People were confident staff knew how to support them; staff were skilled and had undertaken training to enable them to fulfil their roles. Staff were supported in their roles.

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 were polite, pleasant and respectful. Care was provided in a dignified and respectful way. People described the service they received as excellent. One person said, “This is an extremely good service, they [care staff] always arrive on time and are always willing to help”.

Care was person-centred. People made choices about the way they wanted their care provided and were encouraged to do things for themselves to remain as independent as possible. People knew who to speak with if they had any complaint or concern. There was a complaints procedure in place so any complaint would be dealt with appropriately.

People and staff had confidence in the registered manager to manage the service well and were encouraged to give feedback. The registered manager had a good understanding of the regulatory requirements of their role. There were systems in place to monitor the quality and performance of the service to help drive improvement.

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 27 April 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.