Brightside Carers Ltd

Updated 18 July 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:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Brightside Carers Ltd is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. The registered manager is also the registered provider and they 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 site visit because the management team are often out supporting people. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

We visited the service on 28 June 2019 to see the management team, meet staff and to review care records and policies and procedures. We made calls to people and their relatives on 02 July 2019.

What we did:

When planning our inspection, we reviewed any information we had received about the service. We also contacted the local authority for feedback about the service. We used this information to help us decide what areas to focus on during the inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with registered manager, who is also the provider. We spoke with two senior carers and four care workers. We spoke by telephone with two people who used the service and four relatives. We also received information from one healthcare professional by email following the inspection. We looked at four people’s care records to see how their care and support was planned and delivered. We also looked at medicine records, one staff recruitment file, the staff training matrix and the provider’s quality monitoring systems.

Updated 18 July 2019

About the service:

Brightside Carers Ltd is registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. There were 25 people receiving care and support at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt safe with the support of staff. Risks to people had been assessed and staff had a good understanding of these risks and how to minimise them.

Where required people were supported to receive their medication as prescribed and staff demonstrated a good knowledge of types and signs of abuse and how to report concerns of abuse.

People were supported by staff who had the skills to meet their needs. People were able to consent to their care and we saw staff understood the importance of seeking consent before providing support. However, we found that the management team could improve their understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to ensure the principles of the act were promoted consistently.

People’s nutritional needs were met, and people were happy with the support they received to enjoy a choice of meals. People were supported to access healthcare professionals when required.

People spoke very positively about the staff that supported them and told us staff were kind and caring in their approach. People’s privacy and dignity was respected, and their independence was maintained and encouraged.

People received individualised care and support from regular staff that demonstrated detailed knowledge of people’s individual needs. The service supported and employed a number of people of Asian heritage. We saw guidance information for staff had been translated to support staff where English was not their first language. The provider also had plans in place to produce information such as individual care plans and the provider’s newsletter, in people’s first language to aid their understanding.

People told us they were involved in their care and their needs were assessed and reviewed on a regular basis. People’s care records were person centred and guided staff on the way they preferred their care and support to be provided.

People and relatives told us they had not needed to make a complaint but knew how to and would feel comfortable doing so should they need to. Where people had raised concerns, they advised the provider had taken prompt action to resolve the issue.

The management team had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service that they provided and looked to develop the service further. People, their relatives and staff all spoke positively about the service and said it was well managed.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection we rated Brightside Carers Ltd as ‘Good’ (report published on 17 January 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection which took place on 28 June 2019. Telephones calls were made to people receiving care and their relatives on 02 July 2019.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.