Updated 21 March 2019
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team: This inspection was carried out 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: Phemacare is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. All 11 people supported by the service were assisted with personal care tasks.
At the time of this inspection the registered provider was completing the registration process with CQC to become the registered manager of the location. Once registered this means that they are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The registered provider was not present on the day of inspection. Day-to-day matters at the branch were being managed by a representative of the provider and a branch manager.
Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that the manager would be available to support the inspection and for staff to be available to talk with us about the service.
What we did: We reviewed information we had received about the service to plan the inspection. This included details of incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We contacted Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.
Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us to give us some key information about the service, what the service does well and the 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 four people who use the service and four of their relatives. We spoke with the provider’s representative, the manager of the service, and three homecare workers. We reviewed a range of records: This included three people’s care records, various records related to recruitment, staff training and supervision and the management of the service.