About the service: Caremark Solihull is a domiciliary care service that on the days of the inspection was providing support to 62 people in their own homes. It provides support to adults in their own traditional home setting.

People's experience of using this service:

¿ The service had maintained its standing as good overall.

¿ Some recruitment issues meant the service could not be satisfied that a member of staff had been recruited safely. This was resolved during the inspection.

¿ Consideration into people's mental capacity was dealt with appropriately and the service acted consistent with legislation.

¿ The service met the characteristics of good in all of the five domains.

¿ There were good practices within the service.

¿ People were assisted to have maximum choice and control over their lives.

¿ People who used the service, their relatives and staff members gave us positive feedback about the service and the management.

¿ Systems and processes within the service ensured people were safe.

¿ Staff knew people well and had built positive relationships with people they supported.

¿ People had an active say in how the service was operated and managed through individual meetings, surveys and reviews.

¿ More information is contained in the full report.

Rating at last inspection: The service was rated good overall. Our last report was published on 09 June 2016.

Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, high quality care. We will inspect the service again in line with the overall rating and may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information.

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

We carried out this inspection on 18 May 2016. We told the provider we were coming 48 hours before the visit so they could arrange for staff to be available to talk with us about the service.

Caremark Solihull is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care support to people in their own homes. At the time of our visit 87 people used the service.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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. A registered manager was in place and had been since 2010. This person was on holiday during our visit. They were also the registered manager for another of the provider’s services, and were based in their other office, while the provider was based in Solihull. The provider worked alongside the registered manager in managing the service and was there on the day of our visit.

People told us they felt safe using the service because staff were skilled and knowledgeable, and knew how to care for them well. Care workers had a good understanding of what constituted abuse and referrals were made to the local authority when safeguarding concerns were raised.

Checks were carried out prior to care workers starting work to ensure their suitability to work with people who used the service. Care workers received an induction to the organisation, and a programme of training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively.

Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (2005), and gained people’s consent before they provided personal care.

People who required support had enough to eat and drink during the day and were assisted to manage their health needs. Care workers referred people to other professionals if they had any concerns. People and families had regular opportunities to meet with staff to review the care.

People had care workers they were familiar with, who arrived at the expected time and completed the required tasks. There were enough staff to care for people they supported.

People told us care workers were kind and caring and had the right skills and experience to provide the care their family members required. People were supported with dignity and respect. Care workers encouraged people to be independent where possible.

Care plans contained relevant information for care workers to help them provide personalised care including processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. People received their medicines when required from staff trained to administer them.

People knew how to complain and could share their views and opinions about the service they received. Care workers were confident they could raise any concerns or issues with the registered manager and provider, knowing they would be listened to and acted on.

The management team gave care workers formal opportunities to discuss any issues or raise concerns with them. There were processes to monitor the quality of the service provided and understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through regular communication with people and staff, including surveys. Other spot checks and audits ensured care workers worked in line with policies and procedures.