Caremark (Oldham)

Updated 30 May 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.

This was an announced inspection and was conducted by one adult social care inspector on the 25 April 2018. The inspection was announced in line with our guidance to ensure there was someone in the office.

We requested and received a provider information return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. We used this information to help plan the inspection.

Before our inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications the provider had made to us. Notifications tell us about any incidents or events that affect people who use the service. We also asked the local authority and Healthwatch Oldham for any information they held about the service. There were no concerns and the local authority had only received positive comments about the service.

We spoke with two people who used the service, two relatives, the registered manager, care coordinator and a staff member.

We looked at three care records and medicines administration records for seven people who used the service. We also looked at the recruitment, training and supervision records for four members of staff, minutes of meetings and a variety of other records related to the management of the service.

Updated 30 May 2018

Caremark (Oldham) is a private domiciliary care service. The service provides personal care and support in the community to children, younger adults and older people who have a variety of health and social care needs and who live in their own homes. The service currently supports around 80 people.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) 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. The registered manager had been in post since June 2015.

At the last inspection of June 2015 the service were rated as good with a breach of Regulation 12 (1) (2) (g) the safe administration of medicines because the MAR records were not maintained accurately. The service sent us an action plan to show how they were going to make the required improvements. We saw at this inspection that by further staff training and regular medicines audits the service had made the improvements and the regulation was met.

Staff we spoke with were aware of how to protect vulnerable people and had safeguarding policies and procedures to guide them, which included the contact details of the local authority to report to.

Recruitment procedures were robust and ensured new staff should be safe to work with vulnerable adults. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs.

Risk assessments for health needs or environmental hazards helped protect the health and welfare of people who used the service but did not restrict their lifestyles.

Staff were trained in the administration of medicines and managers checked the records to help spot any errors and keep people safe. Managers also checked that staff were administering medicines correctly to ensure they were competent to do so.

Staff were trained in infection control topics and issued with personal protective equipment to help prevent the spread of infection.

Staff received an induction and were supported when they commenced employment to become competent to work with vulnerable people. Staff were well trained and supervised to feel confident within their roles. Staff were encouraged to take further training in health and social care topics such as a diploma.

People were supported to take a healthy diet if required and staff were trained in how to handle food safely.

The service were of aware of how to protect a person’s rights by following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act.

We observed a good rapport between people who used the service and staff. People were supported by a regular staff team who knew them well.

Personal records were held securely to help protect people’s privacy.

There was a complaints procedure for people to raise any concerns they may have.

People were assisted to attend meaningful activities if this was a part of their support package

Plans of care gave staff clear details of what care people needed. People helped develop their plans of care to ensure the care they received was what they wanted.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of service provision and where needed the manager took action to improve the service.

The office was suitable for providing a domiciliary care service and was staffed during office hours. There was an on call service for people to contact out of normal working hours.