Cloud Homecare Limited

Updated 19 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was undertaken 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: Cloud Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides support to people in their own homes.

The service had two managers 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 visit to ensure the registered manager would be available to assist with the inspection.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received and held about the service. This included statutory notifications sent to us about events and incidents that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We visited the office location on 17 May 2019, to see the registered managers. We reviewed people’s support plans and associated care records and information relating to the management of the agency. This included quality auditing and staff recruitment, training and supervision records. To gain feedback about the service, we spoke with seven people and eight relatives. We contacted two health and social care professionals by email for their views about the service but neither responded.

Updated 19 July 2019

About the service: Cloud Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they were happy with the service they received. They said staff treated them with respect and promoted their privacy, dignity and independence.

Medicines were not always safely managed. Records showed the recommended timescale between dosages had not always been adhered to for one person.

Staff had documented they had administered people’s prescribed medicines but had not consistently signed the medicine administration record.

We made a recommendation for the registered managers to undertake further monitoring, to ensure the safe management of people’s medicines.

People were encouraged to make decisions and be in control of their support. People were fully assessed before being offered a service and were involved in developing and reviewing their support plan.

People were always supported by staff who knew them well. Established relationships had been built and staff knew exactly how people liked their care to be delivered.

A registered manager told us staff often went the “extra mile” with people. This included, “popping in” to see people, to ensure their safety and wellbeing.

People had support with meal preparation and to keep their home, clean and tidy if required. One person experienced “silver service” from staff, as they were unable to go out to a restaurant.

People and their relatives were very complimentary about the staff. There were comments such as, “They care about how you’re feeling” and, “They do everything I ask, perfectly, I cannot fault any of them”.

Person-centred human rights were at the centre of all interactions with people. There was a strong focus of ensuring people received good quality care.

People felt safe and relatives had no concerns about their family member’s safety. Staff had time with people and were not rushed. There was a clear focus on “the person” rather than just the tasks to be completed.

There were enough staff to support people, which enabled a reliable service. Staff were given enough time to travel to everyone, so were rarely late arriving at a person’s property.

People were encouraged to give their views about the service they received. This was through surveys, one-to-one discussions and within reviews of their support.

People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint. They were confident any concern would be properly investigated and resolved.

There was a positive approach to risk taking. People were encouraged to take assessed risks, with measures in place to enhance safety if required.

There was a strong focus on learning and developing staff’s knowledge, performance, potential and progression. A registered manager told us, “I get great joy in getting staff to achieve things they think they can’t.”

The service had two registered managers. Both worked closely together and had clear roles and responsibilities, based on skills, knowledge, preferences and experience.

Staff told us they were well supported and enjoyed their role. They were very complimentary about the registered managers and the overall management of the service.

There were a range of audits, which assessed the quality and safety of the service. However, we made a recommendation to give particular attention to the procedures for checking the medicines systems.

There was a clear desire to ensure people received quality support and for the agency to grow steadily, in a safe, targeted manner.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection on 13 July 2016 and 09 August 2016, the service was rated as Good. The report of this inspection was published on 5 November 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned, comprehensive inspection, based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk