Archived: Somerset Care Community (Torbay)

Updated 2 December 2014

The inspection of Somerset Care Community (Torbay) was completed by two inspectors 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. The inspection was completed over two days in order to allow us to speak to people who use the service. We did this by speaking to them over the phone and visited them in their home.

We reviewed the records held at the local office and in people’s homes. We looked at the records kept in respect of people’s care such as their care plans, policies and procedures and staff personnel and training records. We spoke with 27 people who received care from the service (with five visited in their home) and four family members (two over the phone and two in person). We also spoke with 13 staff by phone.  We read five people’s care records and five staff personnel files. We spoke with the registered manager, area manager and Nominated Individual during the inspection. The Nominated Individual is a senior official in the organisation who is responsible for responding to the commission on behalf of the company.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed a range of information. This included the Provider Information Record (PIR) and previous inspection reports. The PIR was information given to us by the provider. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing potential areas of concern. We contacted 11 professionals who have arranged care for people (called Care Managers), three GP surgeries and the district nurse team locally. We received feedback from two professionals including one care manager and one district nurse. Both stated they felt the service was good and had no concerns.

This report was written during the testing phase of our new approach to regulating adult social care services. After this testing phase, inspection of consent to care and treatment, restraint, and practice under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) was moved from the key question ‘Is the service safe?’ to ‘Is the service effective?'

The ratings for this location were awarded in October 2014. They can be directly compared with any other service we have rated since then, including in relation to consent, restraint, and the MCA under the ‘Effective’ section. Our written findings in relation to these topics, however, can be read in the ‘Is the service safe’ sections of this report.

Updated 2 December 2014

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 and to pilot a new inspection process being introduced by CQC which looks at the overall quality of the service.

The inspection was announced forty eight hours in advance. This was because we wanted to arrange to visit some people who received the service to obtain their feedback. Somerset Care Community (Torbay) (referred to by name or as ‘the service’) was last inspected on the 20 and 27 November 2013. We had no concerns about the service at this time.

Somerset Care Community (Torbay) provides care in people’s homes. At the time of the inspection they were providing personal care to 158 people and employed 69 staff to carry out this work. People were provided with both short term or longer term care.

There was a registered manager in place.  A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the provider.

People told us they felt safe in respect of the care provided. Staff were trained in safeguarding people they were caring for and demonstrated they understood this. However, people told us they wanted to know who was coming into their home and that their care would be provided at a time that was right for them. People told us they felt unsafe and uncomfortable in their own home not knowing this. People expressed concerns about the weekends in addition to the weekdays.

People told us they felt the care they received was caring. People told us staff treated them with dignity and respect. However, people also told us they were concerned about not having continuity of carers. Also, the times of care were not always at the times they desired or could change without consultation

We found the provider did not have a system in place to ensure the safe administration of medicines. People were potentially at risk as a result. People told us that when staff were late they either had to take their medicine themselves or their routine was affected.

People told us they were asked their opinion of the service but did not always feel this was listened to or accommodated.

The service had a clear structure of governance in place. The registered manager had not been in their role for long and the organisation had undergone a restructure.

We found a number of breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.