Background to this inspection
Updated
6 March 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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and one Expert by Experience who made telephone calls to people and their families to request feedback. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
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 17 December 2019 and ended on 18 December 2019. We visited the office location on 17 December 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last 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.
During the inspection
We spoke with four people who used the service and six relatives by telephone about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the nominated individual, registered manager, care co-ordinator, senior care worker and three care workers. We also spoke with a visiting hospice training assessor. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. 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. We received feedback from an additional six relatives, one person who used the service and five professionals by email.
Updated
6 March 2020
About the service
All About Homecare is a domiciliary care agency which is registered to provide personal care and support to adults. It provides a range of services, including personal care, companionship, medication support, meal preparation and domestic assistance. There were 28 people receiving personal care at the time of this 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 continued to benefit from an outstandingly well-led service providing excellent care which was extremely responsive to meeting people's individual needs.
The staff were outstandingly responsive to the needs of people at the service, by providing a wide range of person-centred support and activities in line with people’s wishes. Staff supported people to live as full a life as possible. There were strong community links and people accessed their community regularly supported by the staff.
Everyone we spoke with provided exceptional feedback about how caring and supportive the staff were and so often went the extra mile to ensure people were happy and felt well cared for. The service actively supported people to maintain their independence.
A very person-centred approach had been adopted in the assessing, planning and delivery of people's care and support. Care plans were exceptionally detailed.
Supporting people to live safely in their own homes for as long as possible was central to the provider’s ethos. People were supported to take positive risks, maximising control over their lives. There was a strong, empowering and distinctive approach to safety and risk management.
We received consistent highly positive feedback and praise from health and social care professionals with recent involvement with the service. They told us staff were pro-active in managing people's health and social care needs in a person-centred way.
There were enough staff to provide people with the support they needed, when they needed it. Staff received a comprehensive training package and were provided with on-going support. Appropriate recruitment procedures were in place to help ensure only suitable staff were employed.
People were supported to maintain good health and had access to healthcare services. Staff worked with a range of health professionals to ensure they knew people's care needs. Medicines were managed safely.
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
The last rating for this service was outstanding (published 8 June 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.