North Star Foundation

Updated 25 April 2020

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 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 12 March 2020 and ended on 02 April 2020. We visited the office location on 12 March 2020.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We asked the local authority and Healthwatch for any information they had which would aid our inspection. Local authorities together with other agencies may have responsibility for funding people who used the service and monitoring its quality. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We met and spoke with four people who used the service, some in more detail than others, about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the management team including the nominated individual and provider. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. In addition, we met and talked with six staff members who provided care and support to people.

We looked at a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. In addition, we viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including information the registered manager had left for the inspector, four staff recruitment files and quality checks such as, incident monitoring and analysing records.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager and provider to validate evidence found. We looked at the compliments received about people’s support and the written accounts from four staff members about the support they provided. We spoke with three relatives about their experiences of the support provided. Three community professionals sent written feedback.

Updated 25 April 2020

About the service

North Star Foundation Limited is a domiciliary care service. It is registered to provide personal care to people with learning disabilities living in their own homes. There were 19 people using the service on the day of our inspection.

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

People and their relatives provided accounts of how the management and staff team were skilled in providing compassionate and thoughtful support for people. There was a strong culture of valuing and celebrating people’s diverse needs which made people feel they mattered. People expressed joy and pride when relaying how they had achieved certain goals which they may not have done without the caring and ‘can do’ attitudes of staff.

Lots of thought had gone into developing small staff teams to support each person. Staff knew people well and strong bonds had developed which helped people achieve positive outcomes. Respect for equality, diversity and inclusion was fully embedded within people’s care and support.

Without exception the management and staff team worked in a way, which put the needs of people first. Support plans were written in an extremely sensitive and thoughtful way to reflect people's life history and likes and dislikes in detail. Each person’s communication preferences were considered, and this was reflected in people’s knowing their plans and diaries which they truly owned. From the provider to their staff team there was a real sense of going over and above to promote people’s social inclusion.

There was strong leadership with the provider and their management team holding exceptionally strong values of inclusion and equality for people with learning disabilities. Staff were highly motivated and proud to work for the provider. People felt in control of their own care, listened to and their opinions valued. Family members spoke very highly of the management team. The provider ensured people were equal partners in their care and supported them to experience and achieve positive outcomes. The registered manager’s oversight and governance assisted in ensuring high quality care was provided and people received safe care and treatment.

People were supported by enough staff to safely meet their needs. Staff were aware of the risks to people and supported them in a way which minimised those risks. Staff understood how to keep people safe from the risk of abuse and avoidable harm. They were confident to report any concerns they may have about people's safety. People's medicines were managed safely where assistance was required, and good infection control practices were used by staff.

People were assisted by well trained staff who promoted people's health and made sure they had access to health and social care services. Staff worked with a range of health professionals to ensure they knew and could support people's care needs. People were assisted to maintain good nutrition. 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.

The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support by promoting choice and control, independence and inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 31 August 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.