I Care (GB) Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people who live in their own homes. The service covers a wide range of dependency needs including older people, people living with dementia, people with a learning disability and people with mental health problems.

I Care (GB) Limited also provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is bought or rented, and is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service.

Not everyone using I Care (GB) Limited receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

This inspection visit took place on 13 December 2018, 7 and 9 January 2019 and was announced. At the last inspection carried out on 20 and 27 April 2016 the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

There was a registered manager in place. 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.

At the time of our inspection I Care (GB) Limited was providing a service to 262 people. This included background support and / or personal care to people who lived in one of the six extra care housing services they managed.

People said staff safely supported and cared for them or their family member. They said they were friendly and caring. One person said, “They’re so very good to me. They’ll do anything you ask.” Another person told us, “Nothing's too much trouble for them. I’m well pleased with them.”

There were procedures in place to protect people from abuse and unsafe care. Risk assessments were in place which provided guidance for staff. This minimised risks to people. Staff supported people with and managed medicines safely. People we spoke with told us staff were competent in the support they gave with medicines. One person said, “They put my creams on and write everything down so it’s clear.”

Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported. People who received support or where appropriate, their relatives had been involved in making decisions about their care. They told us they were usually supported by the same group of staff who they knew and liked. They said their staff team were competent and caring and were familiar with their needs and preferences.

Staff told us they had enough time to care for people without rushing them. People said staff never missed turning up, usually arrived on time, stayed for the correct time allocated and did not rush them. One person told us, “They are so gentle, they make me laugh we have a chat.” Other people said, “The same carers come and up to now they have been on time.” And, “I’m quite happy. I have consistent carers and they are punctual with my appointment time.”

Staff were recruited safely and had received training in how to care for people. One person told us, “They (staff) are well trained and know what they are doing, Staff also received regular one to one supervision and appraisal to discuss, care pract

This inspection visit took place on 20 and 27 April 2016 and was announced.

The service provided personal care to people who lived in their own homes. This included an extra care facility, Links View in Lytham St Anne’s. This enabled people to live independently in their apartments while having communal facilities on hand and support in an emergency. This could include personal care if they wished.

I Care (GB) limited supported people with mental health problems, people with physical disabilities, people living with dementia and older people.

At the time of our inspection I Care (GB) Limited was providing a service to around 280 people.

There was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC 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.

People we spoke with told us they felt safe. They told us they received patient and safe care and they liked the staff who supported them. They said staff were respectful, friendly and conscientious.

There were procedures in place to protect people from abuse and unsafe care. Risk assessments were in place which provided guidance for staff. This minimised risks to people.

People told us they were usually supported by the same group of staff who they knew and liked. They told us they had confidence in their usual staff team as they were familiar with their needs and preferences.

People told us they received their medicines as prescribed and at the times they needed them. Staff had received training to assist people with their medicines.

Recruitment and selection was carried out safely with appropriate checks made before new staff could start working for the service. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience needed to care for people.

People told us staff did not miss visits. Almost everyone we had contact with said staff were usually on time for their visits. Although three people said staff were sometimes late, particularly at weekends.

Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable how to support and care for people. They had the skills, knowledge and experience to provide safe and effective support.

Staff supported people to have a nutritious dietary and fluid intake, assisting them in preparation of food and drinks as they needed.

Care plans were in place detailing how people wished to be supported. People who received support or where appropriate their relatives were involved in decisions and consented to their care.

People who used the service and their relatives knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The complaints procedure was available and people said they were encouraged to raise any concerns. Where people had expressed concerns appropriate action had been quickly taken.

Senior staff monitored the support staff provided to people. They checked staff arrived on time and supported people in the way people wanted. Quality audits were carried out regularly and people’s views sought.

One person who used the service said that the staff were very helpful, and had always treated them in a nice way. “The staff listen to me, and ask me what I want to do. They help me to do the things that I like, and understand that sometimes I need help.” Another person we spoke with said "The staff are great. They always treat me with kindness when bathing me and helping me dress. They are like friends, and talk to me in that way. I feel like I am involved in my own care and am I able to make choices. The staff respect my wishes in the way I want to be helped"

The manager told us questionnaires were sent out annually to clients and their carers to complete. These ask for the views on the service and how they feel it could provide a better service. The manager said, "We analyse these surveys and act upon any issues that arise to improve our service." The evidence to support this was seen, and it showed that the service had put measures in place to ensure service users were promptly informed of any changes to the carers who would be attending to their personal care. The manager explained that as the care needs of people living at home has become increasingly complex, training staff to enable them to work effectively with people was very important to the service. Specialist training to meet the particular care needs of people with certain conditions was found to be an important element of the training offered to staff.

We spoke to 6 people who use the service. All of them said they had been given information about the service that helped them understand the kind of services available to them. They all believed they were very much involved in the decision making processes relating to the care and support they received. Some people we spoke with placed great value on conversation, being able to have a chat or a laugh with the care staff. The people we spoke to thought the manager and staff were good at keeping them informed of developments, and were interested in their care and support arrangements. If they had issues about the service, the people we spoke with felt happy to approach the management team with a view to raising their concerns.