Background to this inspection
Updated
29 July 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The 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
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider 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. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 9 June 2021 and ended on 23 June 2021. We visited the office location on 23 June 2021.
What we did before inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We reviewed a range of documents prior to visiting the offices, these included four people’s care files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service. During our visit to the offices we spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager, senior care co-ordinator and case manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included a further two care records and multiple medicine records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment.
After the inspection
We spoke with 13 people who used the service and seven relatives by telephone about their experience of the care provided. We spoke to two care assistants by telephone. We sent surveys to 15 staff including care assistants and care supervisors and five of these were returned. We also received feedback by e-mail from the recruitment manager.
Updated
29 July 2021
About the service
Perfect Care Limited is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. At the time of our visit 248 people were receiving a service including 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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received safe care. There were systems in place to safeguard people from harm or abuse. Risk assessments were in place to support people to be as independent as possible. Staff were aware of their responsibility to keep people safe and were confident that any concerns raised would be acted upon by the management. Staff treated people with dignity and respect and helped to maintain people's independence by encouraging them to care for themselves where possible.
Medicines were administered safely, and staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs. Staff undertook training in the safe management of medicines and regularly had their competencies assessed to ensure they were following the correct practices.
The service followed safe recruitment practices. There were enough staff to meet people’s care needs and there were systems in place to allocate and deploy staff safely. Most people and staff told us that staff worked consistently with the same people and got to know their needs and preferences. Relatives had mixed views of the service, especially in relation to visit times and consistency of care staff. Where there were unavoidable changes to people’s care the service made best efforts to let people know about the changes.
Management had clear oversight of the service. The registered manager and other staff we spoke with had detailed knowledge about the service. Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of care and support people received. When people had accidents or incidents these were recorded, and actions taken to minimise the risk of reoccurrence. The service sought and responded to feedback. People told us that day to day issues they raised would be quickly resolved. Where issues had been raised with management, they had taken action to address the concerns.
Most staff we spoke with felt well supported in their roles. They told us they had clear guidance and the registered manager was available if they had any queries. Some staff spoke highly of the management and support they gave staff during the pandemic.
The service had a strong focus on continuous learning and improvements and linked with partner agencies to deliver joined up care.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 1 November 2018).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on current priorities for inspection. We had not inspected this service recently and the service sends CQC a high number of notifications, some of which are about people's safety. Therefore, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe and well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm. We found the service sent notifications in-line with their statutory duties. Please see the well-led section of this full report.
The overall rating for the service has remained good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Perfect Care Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.