Belong at Home Domiciliary Care Agency - Wigan

Updated 25 December 2018

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 comprehensive inspection took place on 06, 07 and 09 November 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the location provides a small domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be in to facilitate the inspection.

The inspection was undertaken by one adult social care inspector from CQC.

Before the inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service, including information we had received since the service registered with the Commission. We asked the service to complete the Provider Information Return (PIR), prior to the date of the inspection, and we received this. The PIR 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.

We reviewed the support plans and medication records of seven people who used the service and records relating to the management of the service. We looked at three staff personnel files, policies and procedures and quality assurance systems.

During our inspection we went to the provider’s head office and spoke with the registered manager, and four members of support staff. We also spoke with a local authority professional and with three relatives of people who used the service as part of the inspection, we also visited two people at home; this was in order to seek feedback about the quality of service being provided.

Updated 25 December 2018

Belong at Home Domiciliary Care Agency - Wigan provides support, personal care or companionship to help people in their own homes and in the community. The provider of this service is Belong Limited. The Wigan service is organised from an office within the Belong Wigan Village, located at Platt Bridge.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and 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. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People who received support from Belong, and their relatives, continued to tell us they had trust in the staff and felt safe when staff supported them in their own homes.

Policies in relation to safeguarding and whistleblowing reflected local procedures and relevant contact information.

Systems were in place to identify and reduce the risks to people living in their own homes.

Accidents and incidents were managed appropriately.

A robust recruitment and selection process was in place and staff had been subject to criminal record checks before starting work at the service.

Medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed by their GP.

People continued to tell us support staff had the knowledge and skills needed to provide an effective service.

There continued to be a focus on delivering training to all staff; where necessary training was in keeping with the requirements of the Care Certificate.

Support staff continued to receive regular supervision and more often, for example, during the induction period.

The service ensured that support staff were matched with people who used the service to ensure they were happy and comfortable with them providing support.

We saw health and wellbeing support plans were completed which identified the level of support people needed to access health appointments

There remained a strong emphasis on the importance of people eating and drinking well. Before any care and support was provided consent was obtained from the person who used the service.

The service worked within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People continued to tell us support staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect.

People's care plans showed an assessment of their needs had been undertaken by the service before any care and support was provided; people confirmed they had been involved in this initial assessment.

We found the provider was meeting the requirements of the Accessible Information Standard.

People who used the service had support plans in place with copies continuing to be held at both the head office and in their own homes; the structure of the plans was clear and it was easy to access information which provided support staff with clear guidance on people’s individual support needs.

People told us they had never had cause to complain about the service they received.

We saw historical positive feedback had been received from people who used the service and their relatives.

People continued to be routinely supported to access the community and to pursue their hobbies or interests.

The service did not deliver end of life care directly but could do so with the support of relevant professionals such as district nurses where applicable. At the time of the inspection the service was not providing end of life care to anyone.

There was a registered manager in post. 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 was very visible in the team and proactive throughout the inspection.

There was an open culture which empowered people to plan and be involved in the high-quality care provided at this service.

Feedback from staff we spoke with about the manager was overwhelmingly positive.

The service had policies and procedures in place, which covered all aspects of service delivery.

There was an up to date certificate of registration with CQC and insurance certificates on display as required. We saw the last CQC report was also displayed in the premises as required.

We found the service had been accredited with Investors in People (IIP) recognition to Gold standard.

CQC had received all the required notifications in a timely way from the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below