We carried out a review of the data available to us about West Berkshire Council Home Care Service on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about West Berkshire Council Home Care Service, you can give feedback on this service.
At our last inspection we rated the service 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.
This inspection took place on 19 February 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider prior notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with the regulated activity ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Not everyone using the service receives the regulated activity. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care to 49 people.
The service had 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. The registered manager supported us with the inspection.
People felt safe while supported by the staff. Staff had a good understanding of how to keep people safe and their responsibilities for reporting accidents, incidents or concerns. Staff had the knowledge and confidence to identify safeguarding concerns and acted on these to keep people safe.
Staff training records indicated which training was considered mandatory. Most of the staff were up to date with their mandatory training but many were due refresher training. The registered manager had planned and booked training when necessary to ensure all staff had the appropriate knowledge to support people. We have made a recommendation for the registered manager to refer to the current best practice guidance on ongoing training for social care staff.
Staff had ongoing support via regular supervisions and appraisals. They felt supported by the registered manager and senior staff and maintained good team work.
People were supported by sufficient numbers of staff to meet their individual needs. People were informed about the changes to and timings of their visits. The service had an appropriate recruitment procedure to follow before new staff were employed to work with people. They checked to ensure staff were of good character and suitable for their role.
People were supported by a dedicated and caring team of staff and the registered manager, helping them to build and maintain their independence and live their life to the fullest. People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity were promoted. People and relatives felt their care workers were excellent and supported them in the way they wanted. Staff were responsive to the needs of the people and enabled them to improve and/or maintain their independence with personal care. The whole staff team were motivated and proud of the service they provided to the people.
The staff monitored people's health and wellbeing and took appropriate action when required to address concerns. The service assessed risks to people's personal safety, as well as, staff and visitors, and plans were in place to minimise those risks. There were safe medicines administration systems in place and people received their medicines when required.
People received support that was individualised to their specific needs. Their needs and support plans were kept under review and amended as changes occurred. People's rights to make their own decisions, where possible, were protected and staff were aware of their responsibilities to ensure people's rights were promoted.
Staff felt they worked really well together and supported each other, which benefitted the people supported. Staff thought the registered manager and senior staff team was very supportive and approachable. They worked with them as a team and they had good communication. The registered manager had quality assurance systems in place to monitor the running of the service and the quality of the service being delivered. The registered manager was able to identify issues and improvements necessary and action was being taken to address these promptly. They praised the staff team for their dedication and hard work and appreciated their contribution to ensure people received the best care and support.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.
There is a registered manager running the service. 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.
People told us they were absolutely safe and felt care staff were absolutely trustworthy. People were protected by staff who had received the appropriate training and knew how to recognise and deal with any form of abuse. There were enough staff who had been safely recruited to provide the appropriate care to people. The service did not accept care packages if they did not have the resources to do so. People were supported, by well trained staff, to take their medicines safely.
Risks were identified and managed to keep people and staff as safe as possible.
People’s rights were protected by staff who understood the Mental Capacity Act (2005). The Mental Capacity Act 2005 legislation provides a legal framework that sets out how to act to support people who do not have capacity to make a specific decision. Care staff understood how to gain people’s consent and how to help them make decisions for themselves. People’s capacity to make decisions was recorded, if appropriate, and relevant paperwork was included in care plans.
People's needs were met by a very well trained staff team. They had the knowledge and skills required to support and reable people in the way described on their individualised plan of care. People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity was preserved at all times. People told us they were very happy with their care and used words such as, ‘‘excellent’’ and, ‘‘brilliant’’ to describe the care. The service was flexible and responded to the needs and choices made by people.
The service was very well managed by a registered manager and management team who were highly thought of. The service made sure that they continually monitored and assessed the quality of care they offered. People, staff and other professionals described the service as having very high standards. It worked closely with other professionals to ensure people had the best chance of regaining or maintaining as much of their independence, as possible.
We saw that the agency worked with other services for the benefit of those they offered care to.
The service made sure that they helped or supported people to take their medication safely, if necessary.
We found that the agency completed checks on new staff to make sure they were 'fit' to work with vulnerable people. Staff were supported to offer good quality care to people. People told us that they felt ''very safe with staff'' and were ''very comfortable with them in my home''.
The service had ways of checking that they maintained and improved the quality of care they offered. People told us that they had no concerns or complaints about the service but would be happy to talk to their care staff or phone the office if they had any worries.
The inspection team was led by a CQC inspector and joined by an Expert by Experience who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service. We used telephone interviews and home visits to people who use the service and to their main carers (relatives or friends) to gain views about the service.
We visited five people in their homes, we spoke to two of the people we visited, two relatives who spoke on behalf of the people we visited as they were not able to communicate directly with us and observed the care of the other person. In addition we spoke with four care staff and the manager of the service.
People who used the service or their relatives told us that their privacy, dignity and independence were respected. Twenty of the 24 the people we spoke with told us that they were involved in decisions about their care and support. People described care workers as respectful and professional. People told us that the care workers treated them very well and one person told us that they ''felt that the girls really cared about them''. The 24 people who used the service or their relatives told us that they felt absolutely safe with the care workers. People who used the service or their relatives described the staff as ''wonderful ladies'', they said ''we can't fault them'' and ''they are generally excellent''.