Background to this inspection
Updated
2 June 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 undertaken by one inspector.
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. In this instance the provider and registered manager are the same person.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 17 May 2021 and ended on 24 May 2021. We visited the office location on 21 May 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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.
During the inspection-
We spoke with four people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager and received feedback from five staff members.
We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.
Updated
2 June 2021
About the service
Care Embassy is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes in the community. At the time of the inspection seven people were receiving support from this service.
The provider (who is also registered manager) had submitted a notification to advise of a recent change of office address. We visited the provider’s new address to conduct this inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were safe and protected from avoidable harm. Staff knew how to identify and report any concerns relating to the risk of abuse. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were assessed and support developed to remove or reduce the risks. People were supported by staff who had been safely recruited.
People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff received training and had their competency assessed to help ensure they were sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to safely administer medicines. Staff had received training in infection control practices and personal protective equipment (PPE) was provided for them. The registered manager took appropriate action following any incidents and learning was shared with the staff team.
The registered manager had a system of quality assurance checks in place to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the service provided. The registered manager was committed to providing a high standard of care to the people they supported and understood their responsibilities to them. People, their relatives and staff members spoke highly of the registered manager and told us that they were always available and supportive.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update: The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 26 September 2019), the provider was in breach of regulation 17 (Good Governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 09 August 2019. A breach of legal requirements was found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve the quality assurance systems in place to monitor the overall quality and safety of the service.
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions safe and well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to 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 Care Embassy Domiciliary Care 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.