Radfield Home Care Chester & Ellesmere Port

Updated 13 May 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 one inspector.

Service and service type

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

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 it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 15 December 2022 and ended on 18 January 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 15 December 2022 and 21 December 2022. Visits were undertaken to people's homes to seek feedback about the service on additional dates and feedback was sought from relatives.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since its registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited 4 people and 1 relative in their homes and spoke to 3 relatives by telephone about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the registered manager, provider and 4 support staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people’s care records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 13 May 2023

About the service

Radfield Home Care Chester and Ellesmere Port is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. Radfield Home Care offers a variety of services, including assistance with personal care, meal preparation, companionship, medicines management and domestic tasks. At the time of our inspection there were 23 people using the service.

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.

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

We found many examples where staff had gone 'above and beyond' their role to support people through truly exceptional circumstances. Staff had supported people to have positive outcomes following extremely difficult events in their lives. Staff had also supported a person to stay at home in accordance with their wishes at the end of their life. Staff offered flexibility to the hours of support required and also offered consistency.

People told us they were treated exceptionally well, and staff consistently ensured their privacy and dignity was respected. People described being offered choice in all areas of their support and told us staff promoted their independence wherever possible. They said they never felt rushed, and staff had ample time to complete all tasks as well as taking time for conversation which people valued.

People and their relatives were fully involved in the development of their care plans. Plans were person centred and there were risk assessments in place that held enough detail to ensure their needs and preferences were met. Care plans were reviewed regularly with the full involvement of the person supported and their relatives and were promptly updated when needs changed. People told us they had regular staff supporting them who were kind, caring and considerate.

Staffing levels were enough to meet people’s needs and staff were safely recruited. All staff had completed an induction and carried out shadow shifts prior to lone working. Staff told us they received training and felt confident in their roles. Staff felt exceptionally well supported by the management team and gave lovely examples of being supplied with fleece jackets in the winter and also cold drinks and ice creams in the summer.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place. Staff had received training and understood how to keep people safe and who to report to if they had any concerns.

Staff supported people to take their medicines safely. Staff were trained and had their competency regularly assessed in medicines management. People told us they received their prescribed medicines on time.

The provider had quality assurance systems in place. These included audits, analysis and spot checks that were used to drive improvements. There was a complaints policy and procedure in place that people and their relatives were aware of. People told us they felt confident to raise any concerns and complaints they had. We received many compliments about the service, staff and management team.

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.

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 19 August 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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