Care Inspectorate Wales Report

Following our first inspection from CIW on 14th June 2024 we were awarded with a 'Good' Rating.

Summary

This was the first inspection for Ultra Care Health Professionals Limited. The service is a small domiciliary service operating in Gwent. People and their families speak positively about their experiences of care and support from the service provider. They told us they have good relationships with staff and are supported by a consistent team of care workers who know them well.

The service provider completes assessments to ensure they are able to meet people’s needs. People have personal plans which outline their personal wellbeing goals, as well as how care workers can support them with their day-to-day needs. People and their families are involved in reviews to ensure the service continues to meet their needs.

There are good oversight and governance processes in place. The responsible individual (RI) works alongside the management team to ensure timely action is taken if any issues arise. There are clear structures in place to support care workers development. Care workers told us they are well supported and enjoy their roles.

Well-being

People experience control over day-to-day life. People know and understand what care, support and opportunities are available and use these to help them achieve good well-being. The right information is accessible to people, when they need it, in the way they want it. The service provider ensures people have access to a written guide to the service, as well as copies of their personal plans kept in their homes. People are confident to use the information to contact the service provider and raise any concerns or issues. There is good communication from the service provider, and any issues identified are addressed quickly and effectively.

People are treated with dignity and respect by familiar care workers. The service provider ensures individual circumstances are considered and people and their families are involved in the assessment, planning and review of their care and support. Collaboration is encouraged to enable people and their representatives to contribute to the decisions impacting their care and support.

The service provider promotes people’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Care workers support people to remain healthy and active, and this is reflected in their personal plans. People get the right care and support, as early as possible. We viewed call monitoring logs showing people receive calls at the right time, and care workers stay for the duration of the call.

People are protected from abuse and neglect. The service has a robust safeguarding policy in place to protect people. The RI takes action to address any safeguarding concerns in a timely manner, and ensures any lessons learnt for the service are actioned. People are informed about how to make concerns known. The management team work together to enhance the quality of care delivery in the service. There is a clear focus on staff development from the management team. Care workers are keen to learn and develop in their roles, and people speak warmly about the care workers who attend to them.

Care and Support

People are happy with the way their care and support is provided and speak warmly about the care workers who attend to them. They have good rapport with their care workers, and told us “They’re lovely,” “Good as gold.” Care workers are friendly and professional and understand how to meet people’s needs. Care workers are punctual and people are assured care tasks are completed. Care notes are documented well within the electronic care system which is reviewed and audited by the management team. When speaking about the quality of care and support, one family member told us “I can’t fault it, and neither can mum.”

People are assured the service considers a range of views to ensure the service is provided in line with their wishes and aspirations. People and their representatives are involved in the ongoing assessment and review of their care and support. Assessments are carried out by the management team and are used to inform people’s personal plans. The manager considers any risks and specialist needs during assessment and review processes and personal plans are updated with any changes. People feel confident the service provider has up to date plans to support care workers to meet their needs. Personal plans provide clear guidance for care workers and are linked to people’s wellbeing outcomes. Personal plans identify people’s preferences which focus on their strengths and areas of need. Care workers feel confident to meet people’s day-to-day needs with the support of information and guidance contained in the personal plans.

People are supported to safely manage their medicines. The service provider has a robust policy in place to ensure the safe handling of medicines which is in line with current best practice. Care workers record the administration of medication correctly They receive competency based training to support them to manage medication in line with the service providers’ policy. There are systems in place to record and report any medication errors, which the management team has good oversight of.

Leadership and Management

People benefit from the leadership and management in place. There are governance arrangements in place to support the smooth running of the service by the RI, manager, and deputy manager. The RI has good oversight of the service, and is familiar with people, and their representatives, as well as with care workers. They have systems in place to obtain the views about the service. . People told us they feel the service provider is responsive and transparent. The RI is supported by the management team to review and audit the service delivery. The RI completed a quality of care report outlining the vision for the service and reflecting on the quality of care provided.

There are enough care workers on duty to support people effectively. People are happy with the frequency and duration of their care calls. Care workers told us they have clear rotas and plenty of time to travel between their care calls. Care workers are suitably recruited, trained, and supported to carry out their duties. The service provider follows safe recruitment practices and supports staff to register with relevant bodies. Care workers receive ongoing training and support within their roles. The RI has recently started to deliver a series of essential skills workshops to support care workers from overseas. The focus of the workshops is to increase care workers’ understanding of local culture and practices, such as making local foods, use of domestic appliances, as well as local phrases. At this time, the service provider is unable to provide the Active Offer of the Welsh Language as there are no Welsh speaking staff available. The service provider should refer to Welsh Government’s ‘More Than Just Words: Follow-on strategic framework for Welsh Language Services in Health, Social Services and Social Care’ for further information.

Care workers feel supported in their roles and told us the management are approachable. The quality of supervision is good, with a focus on reflection and discussion around competence within roles. The service provider needs to increase the frequency of recording of supervisions and formalise their processes.

click here for more details or to contact Ultra Care Health Professionals