Arreta Care Limited

Updated 14 November 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 2 inspectors and an Expert By Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.

This service also provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 19 October 2023 and ended on 24 October 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 19 and 20 October 2023.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 2 people and 7 relatives. We spoke with 13 members of staff including 3 of the providers (2 of whom were also the registered manager and the supported living service manager) and care support workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people’s care records and 2 people’s medication records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. Records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 14 November 2023

About the service

Arreta Care is a care at home service operating both a domiciliary care service and a supported living service providing support to 23 people at the time of the inspection. The service provides support to both older people and younger people, some of whom may have a diagnosis of dementia, a physical disability and people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Right Support:

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 received care that was responsive to meet individual needs and staff demonstrated a commitment to ensuring people were able to live fulfilling lives. People's support focused on them having opportunities to gain new skills and become more independent. Staff supported people in a way which encouraged healthy relationships and people and their relatives spoke highly of the support they received.

People were made to feel safe by a staff team who were trained to recognise and respond to concerns of abuse and manage people’s risks in a safe way. Medicines were managed in a safe way. People received consistent support from a staff team who were punctual and who knew people’s needs well.

People, where necessary accessed healthcare as required and were supported to maintain healthy lifestyles. Care plans were detailed and gave staff the information they needed to be able to care and support people in the most effective way. People’s preferences were assessed and recorded.

Right Care:

Care was person-centred and promoted people's privacy and dignity. There were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs. People achieved good outcomes from their care.

People were given choice and the opportunity to participate in the planning of their care needs. There was a complaints procedure with which people were familiar and people knew how to make a complaint. Staff worked well with other agencies to ensure people received consistent and timely support.

Right Culture:

There were systems in place to identify when things went wrong and learning adopted to prevent future occurrences.

The registered manager and the management team were pro-active continually looking at ways to improve people’s lives and make people’s homes safe and comfortable places to live.

The registered manager adopted an open culture where staff felt valued and proud. The provider and registered manager worked well with other agencies and organisations to improve the quality of care people received.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 5 March 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an incident following which a person using the service died. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of risk of choking. This inspection examined those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.