Archived: Kare Plus Preston

Updated 31 August 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The announced comprehensive inspection started on 2 August 2018 and ended on 3 August 2018. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

We visited the office location on 2 August 2018 to meet with the registered manager and to review care records and policies and procedures. During the visit we spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual. Following the visit to the agency office, we spoke with one person who used the service, three relatives, the care manager and five care staff over the telephone.

We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and the way the service was managed. These included the care records for three people, medicine administration records, staff training records, staff supervision and appraisal records, minutes from meetings, quality assurance audits, incident and accident reports, complaints and compliments records and records relating to the management of the service.

In preparation for our visit, we checked the information we held about the service and the provider. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Updated 31 August 2018

We carried out an announced inspection of Kare Plus Preston on 2 and 3 August 2018. This was the first inspection since the service was registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Kare Plus Preston is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. Not everyone using Kare Plus Preston receives a regulated activity. 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.

At the time of our inspection the agency was providing personal care to five people.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and staff were caring, reliable and trustworthy. Safeguarding adults’ and children’s procedures were in place and staff understood their responsibilities to safeguard people from abuse. Potential risks to people's safety and wellbeing had been assessed and managed. People received their medicines safely.

Staff were recruited following a safe and fair process. People received care and support from a consistent team of staff with whom they were familiar. Staff arrived on time and stayed for the full time allocated. People and their relatives spoke positively about the staff that supported them and told us they were always treated with kindness, care and respect. Staff had developed good relationships with people and were familiar with their needs, routines and preferences.

Staff had sufficient knowledge and skills to meet people's needs effectively. They completed an in depth and structured induction programme when they started work and they were up to date with mandatory training. Staff were supported by the management team and told us they enjoyed working for the agency.

People and their relatives were involved in discussions and decisions about the care and support needed and they could influence the delivery of their care. Staff had up to date information about people’s needs and wishes and there were effective systems in place to respond when their needs changed. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and their healthcare needs were monitored as appropriate. Staff had good links with other healthcare professionals to ensure people’s healthcare needs were met. People were supported with their dietary needs in accordance with their care plan.

People had no complaints about the service they received or about the staff that provided their care and support; they were aware of the complaints procedure and processes and were confident they would be listened to should they raise any concerns.

People made positive comments about the leadership and management of the agency. Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service and people’s feedback was sought in relation to the standard of care and support.