Vital Care and Support Ltd

Updated 14 April 2022

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

This inspection was conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.

The service had a manager registered with the CQC. This means they 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 29 March 2022 and finished on 1 April 2022. We visited the office location on 29 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it had registered with us. We used this information to plan our inspection.

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 the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two care records, two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including complaints, incident forms, policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We spoke with one person using the service and two relatives. We contacted two care staff to find out their experiences of working for or with this provider.

We requested additional evidence to be sent to us after our inspection. This including the service user handbooks and records relating to governance including policies and procedures.

Updated 14 April 2022

About the service

Vital Care and Support Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection they were providing personal care to three people living in their own homes, although they were hoping to expand their services in future.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives were satisfied with the care and support they received from the care workers. They told us they felt safe and had no concerns about their safety. The provider operated robust recruitment procedures which helped to ensure that people were supported by staff who were safe to support them. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs. The provider assessed risks to people which staff were aware of and there was good infection control practice in place.

Staff were given appropriate training which meant they were competent in carrying out their duties effectively, they also received regular supervision and ongoing support. Consent to care was sought and assessments were undertaken before the provider began to support people which helped to ensure people’s needs could be met. People’s dietary and ongoing health needs were met by the provider.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and their relatives told us that care workers were friendly, caring and respected their choices. They were involved in planning their care and gave us examples of how they were supported to remain as independent as possible.

Care plans were reviewed regularly and were individual to each person. People were given information about how to raise a complaint if they were unhappy.

The service was well-led. The registered manager carried out quality assurance checks to monitor the service and engaged with people, relatives and staff seeking their feedback.

Rating at last inspection

This was the first inspection of the service since it registered with the CQC on 6 November 2020.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with us.

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.

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