About the service

Riccall Carers Limited is a domiciliary care agency. This service provides care and support to people either living with their family, in care or independently. They can provide companionship and assistance with household tasks, everyday activities, hobbies, outdoor pursuits and personal care. There were 250 people being supported at the time of our inspection.

Not everyone using Riccall Carers Limited receives a regulated activity; the Care Quality Commission (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.

People’s experience of using this service

People were very positive about the support provided to them. Without exception, people said they felt safe and staff were respectful.

People received their medicines safely and their health was well managed. Staff had developed links with healthcare professionals which promoted people’s wellbeing.

Some people felt that the time of visits could improve and did not like the fact that their care was provided by different staff. However, people also said they received good care from friendly staff who went out of their way to assist them. Relatives said the service was reliable and efficient. They had good communication with the office and were given information about which staff would be making their visits each week.

Staff had received appropriate induction, training and support to enable them to carry out their role.

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

The registered manager and training manager worked with the staff team and led by example to ensure people received a good service. People, relatives and staff told us the management team were approachable and listened to them when they had any concerns. All feedback was used to make continuous improvements to the service.

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

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated as good (published 9 November 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. The service remains good.

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 then we may inspect sooner.

The inspection took place on 1 September 2016 and was announced. We carried out telephone interviews with people who used the service, relatives and members of staff between 12 and 16 September 2016.

At the last inspection that took place on 19 August 2013 the provider was meeting all the regulations that were assessed.

Riccall Carers Limited is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 443 people receiving support from the service. Personal care was provided to people living in York and surrounding areas.

The service had 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 a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated regulations about how the service is run.

People told us they felt safe and were well cared for. Staff knew about local safeguarding protocols and had followed these appropriately, to keep people safe. Incidents and allegations were notified to the local safeguarding team and CQC.

We were told staff provided care safely and we found the provider followed robust recruitment checks, to employ suitable people.

There were sufficient staff employed to ensure the reliability of the service. Staff consistency and punctuality were kept under constant review by means of an electronic monitoring system and through a daily business meeting. The provider ensured there were enough staff before new placements were agreed.

Staff managed medicines safely. New medicine recording charts were in the process of being introduced and a new member of staff was due to start work with a dedicated role to undertake medicines audits.

Staff had completed relevant training. We found that they received regular supervision, to fulfil their roles effectively and to provide people with high quality care. Training was provided by an in-house training department, which was a feature of the service and meant that staff received highly relevant training.

Staff obtained people's consent before providing care. This meant that people were encouraged to be in control of their support.

People's health needs including nutritional care needs were identified and staff worked with other professionals to ensure these needs were met.

People who used the service and their relatives spoke of staff's kindness and said they were caring. Staff said they treated people with privacy and dignity.

Assessments of people's care needs were undertaken before services were started. Care plans

were person-centred and comprehensive. Senior managers and staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported. People who received care and their relatives were positive about the quality of care provided.

Events requiring notification had been reported to CQC.

Effective management systems were in place to promote people’s safety and wellbeing and to drive forward continuous improvement. We found that action had been taken, or was planned where the need for improvement was identified.

We used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service.

Most people who used the service told our expert by experience they were happy with the service they received. We were told the carers mainly arrived at the specified time and people said they were kind and patient.

People told us the care they received was of a good standard. One person told us "I know in advance who is coming and what time to expect them.”

The agency had clear systems in place for supporting people with medication and staff were trained in the safe handling of medicines.

The staff we spoke with told us they felt there were enough skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. We noted there were sufficient numbers of staff on duty, to deliver care and to maintain the quality and consistency of care for people who used the service.

The agency had systems in place to make sure people were safely cared for. This included policies and procedures, training for staff and quality monitoring systems.

People told us they were happy with how their individuality and rights were respected by the staff. One person said “The staff respect my wishes they treat me with dignity”.

People we spoke with said they received the help and support they needed. One person said “The staff are very friendly; they arrive when they are meant too. I have a team of staff to support me. They record the help given in my care documents”.

People told us when we spoke with them that they did not have any concerns about the care they received. One person said “The staff are really nice I feel I can trust them. I feel safe with them”. Another person said “I have no concerns or complaints I feel very happy with how staff deal with me”.

People said they felt the staff were able to provide the help and support they needed because staff received training and support. One person said “The staff have had training. They know what they are doing”.

People told us that their views about the service were asked for. One person said “I am quite satisfied with all aspects of the service. Staff do anything to help you”.

People we spoke with were generally very satisfied with the service they received. They made comments like ‘the carers are lovely’. And ‘it’s a marvellous service’. One relative said they were grateful that the service was able to provide extra support at very short notice when they had to be admitted to hospital following an accident. This meant their partner was able to stay at home, but was never left on their own whilst other family members were out at work.

People said they thought the agency provided a very flexible service too. One person told us that when they needed some personal care more urgently, they contacted the office and the care workers were ‘there within fifteen minutes’. And earlier than planned.