Background to this inspection
Updated
25 May 2016
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 06 October 2015 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service. This meant we needed to be sure that people were available to speak to us. The membership of the inspection team consisted of two inspectors.
Before the inspection we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. They returned the PIR after our visit to the service.
We reviewed notifications from the service a notification is information about an important event which the provider is required to tell us about by law.
We talked by telephone to 14 people using the service. We interviewed six staff, including the registered manager. We also spoke to one of the provider’s senior managers after our visit.
We looked at seven people’s care records, seven risk assessments and seven medicine records. We also saw staff duty records, five recruitment records, staff training and supervision information and a number of records to do with how the agency was run.
Updated
25 May 2016
The inspection took place on 6 October 2015 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours notice of the inspection. This was to ensure that people who used the service were available to meet with us and also that the registered manager and staff were available. The service was last inspected in May 2015 and met with legal requirements at that time.
There was a registered manager for 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.
There was no system to quality audit whether people were supported to take their medicines safely. This meant there was no assurance that medicines were managed in a safe way.
Potential new staff were regularly being interviewed by one member of the management team. This meant there was a risk that unsuitable people may be recruited, if one member of staff made the decision who to appoint.
Staff were not being consistently monitored and supervised in their work. This meant there was no assurance staff were always providing effective care and support.
The quality checking system for auditing the service was not being used properly. There was a risk that the quality of care and overall service was not safe and suitable.
People told us that all of the staff who visited them were kind, caring and respectful to them. People were supported by staff who were trained to understand their needs.
People felt that their care needs were well met by the staff and they spoke highly about the care and support from them. Examples of comments included, "They all go that extra mile for you” and “They do what I want in the way that I want ".
People had been involved in planning the care and support they received. Care records were informative and they explained what actions to follow to assist people with their care needs.
Peoples views were sought by the provider about the way the agency was run .People knew how to make a complaint about the service the agency provided if they needed too.
There was an online system in place to monitor peoples visits and the reliability of the service that staff provided.