About the service:

A Z Caring Services Ltd is an independent domiciliary care agency which provides personal care and support for people in their own homes. The agency provides care for people mainly in Ashford, Kent and surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection, the service supported seven people who were a combination of private and local authority funded clients, some with complex needs, who received support with personal care tasks.

People’s experience of using this service:

People using the service told us the staff and manager were approachable and friendly; people felt safe when staff supported them and when they were in their home. Staff were introduced to people before they started to support them, and people received a schedule in advance of which staff would visit them and when. People told us staff stayed for the full duration of the planned visit, however, sometime staff were late.

We have made a recommendation about protecting people from abuse. This is for the registered person to familiarise themselves with safeguarding protocols of the local authorities with which they contract.

Care plans did not always contain risk assessments linked to people’s support needs to keep them safe; some risk assessments referred to guidance or policies which were not available locally for staff to review.

Records of medicines administered by staff and records of daily care delivered to people were not always completed.

Processes were not in place to ensure equipment used in people’s homes, such as lifting hoists and pressure relieving equipment were serviced, operating correctly or safe to use.

The service was not working according to the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) and its requirements during our inspection. This is intended to ensure people receive information about any aspect of the service in a way which is useful and can be understood.

The service did not have effective systems to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided. Most checks completed were informal and were not always recorded.

Systems intended to develop learning from incidents and events were not in place, although people told us the service they received was reliable.

Staff were skilled in carrying out their role, however, systems to manage and record delivery of training were not well developed.

Appropriate staff were employed to meet the people’s needs. Staff said they were supported by the registered manager, however, although supervision meetings took place, they were not always recorded.

A relative told us staff were caring and respectful, always considering and promoting the person’s privacy and dignity.

People were encouraged to raise any concerns they had or make suggestions to improve the service they received, although no complaint process was available.

Staff felt there was an open culture where they were kept informed about any changes to their role. Staff told us the registered manager was approachable and listened to their ideas and suggestions.

People’s needs were assessed prior to receiving a service including protected characteristics under the Equalities Act.

Relatives told us they felt safe with staff in their homes, they were confident that staff knew how to meet their relative’s needs in the way they preferred.

Processes were in place to identify and reduce any environmental risks to people and care workers.

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

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first inspection of this service. The service is rated Requires Improvement.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive. We will carry out another scheduled inspection to make sure the service improves.