About the service:

Carewatch (North Birmingham) is a local area domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service supported 86 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

The provider’s governance systems to check the quality of the service provided for people were not consistently effective and required some improvement.

People and relatives told us they felt the service was safe and there were sufficient numbers of staff that were safely recruited to support people. Staff had completed induction training that included safeguarding, medication, health and safety and moving and handling. Staff had access to equipment and clothing that protected people from cross infection.

People were protected from potential risk of harm; risk assessments were in place and staff knew how to support people’s individual needs to ensure they provided a consistent level of care. People’s care and support needs were assessed to ensure the service provided could meet their individual need.

Staff received ongoing training they required to meet people’s needs. People were supported to access healthcare services to ensure they received ongoing healthcare support. People, as much as practicably possible, had choice and control of their lives and staff were aware of how to support them in the least restrictive way.

People were supported by kind and caring staff that knew them well. Staff encouraged people’s independence, protected their privacy and treated them with dignity.

People were supported by staff who knew their preferences. Complaints made since the service started had been investigated and resolved. People and their families knew who to contact if they had any complaints.

People and their relatives views were sought about the quality of the care being provided. Staff felt supported by the management team.

People, their relatives and staff were happy with the way the service was managed and the provider worked well with partner organisations to ensure people’s needs were met.

The service did not meet some of the characteristics of Good in one key question and more information is in the detailed findings below.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 31 August 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection. The site visit took place on the 29 and 30 April 2019 and telephone calls were made to people using the service on the 30 April 01, 02 and 03 May 2019.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner

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

This inspection took place on the 20 July 2016 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice that we would be visiting. This was because the provider offers a supported service to people living in their own homes and we wanted to make sure that people and staff would be available to speak with us.

Carewatch is registered to provide personal care and support for adults within their own home. They currently provide personal care and support for 102 people.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

There was no previous inspection information available for this location as this was their first inspection.

People were kept safe. Relatives believed their family members were kept safe. Staff had received training and understood the different types of abuse and knew what action they would take if they thought a person was at risk of harm. Staff were provided with sufficient guidance on how to support people’s medical support needs. The provider had processes and systems in place that kept people safe and protected them from the risk of harm.

People were supported by staff that had been safely recruited. People were supported with their medication by staff that had received appropriate training.

People and relatives felt staff had the skills and knowledge to care and support them in their homes. Staff were trained and supported so that they had the knowledge and skills to enable them to care for people in a way that met their individual needs and preferences. Where appropriate, people were supported by staff to access health and social care professionals.

People were supported to make choices and were involved in the care and support they received. The provider was taking the appropriate action to protect people’s legal rights.

Staff were caring and treated people with dignity and respect. People’s choices and independence was respected and promoted and staff responded to people’s support needs.

People and relatives felt they could speak with the provider about their worries or concerns and felt they would be listened to and have their concerns addressed.

The provider had quality assurance and audit systems in place to monitor the care and support people received to ensure the service remained consistent and effective.