Curant Care

Support was tailored according to people's assessed needs with personalised care packages. The service worked closely with people and their families to ensure individual needs and preferences were considered, whilst encouraging and supporting people to remain as independent as possible. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

A newly appointed recruitment consultant had been employed. They were actively involved in recruitment, this included advertising and promoting the service. Due to the COVID19 pandemic the service had struggled initially with recruitment. This meant that numbers of people receiving care had been kept low. Although the registered manager told us they planned to remain as a smaller service they were looking to provide longer care visits for people. This would mean improved continuity of care and less travelling time for staff.

Recruitment processes were in place, this included appropriate checks being completed before staff started working at the service. Recruitment processes had recently been improved and the service was offering a number of incentives to encourage recruitment and retainment of staff. We saw that previous interviews carried out by the registered manager included notes on the interview and detailed information of discussion during interview. The registered manager and nominated individual confirmed this level of recruitment detail would be continued in any future recruitment.

New staff completed an induction and training before providing care. Staff were trained and competencies assessed. Staff felt that they received a good level of training to ensure they were able to meet people's needs. Staff received a high level of support from the registered manager. The registered manager was working hard to ensure consistent staff were available to visit people. Changes to care needs were reviewed and care documentation updated. If further training needs were identified staff had this provided.

People received their medicines safely. Medicines administered by care staff were documented on an

electronic system. This was reviewed and audited by the registered manager.

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

People's care folders included detailed visit plans, these provided step by step guidance for staff to inform them of a person's care needs during each visit. Visit plans were supported by further risk assessments and documentation to ensure staff were able to provide care appropriately. Care records were reviewed regularly and updated when any changes occurred.

Quality assurance systems were in place to measure and monitor the standard of the service. The registered manager completed a number of audits. Further reviews were also carried out by the head of operations/nominated individual. Any actions identified during audits and reviews were taken forward to ensure continued learning and improvement.