Archived: Homecare Sutton

Updated 30 January 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Before the inspection we looked at all the information we had about the service. This information included the statutory notifications that the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about significant events which the service is required to send to us by law. In addition, we reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asked the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service did well and improvements they planned to make.

We visited the service on 4 January 2019. Our inspection was announced and it was carried out by one inspector. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available at the registered office.

During our inspection we spoke with the registered manager, a lead care support worker, two care support workers and the director of care. We looked at care records for three people, staff files for three staff members, medicines records and other records relating to the running of the service.

After our inspection we spoke with four people and four relatives to gather their views on the service. We also spoke with two health and social care professionals for their feedback about this service.

Updated 30 January 2019

At our last inspection in October 2016 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. Homecare Sutton is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people in their own homes. It provides a service to older adults. People received support through scheduled visits. At the time of our inspection there were 20 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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.

People told us they felt safe. Staff were trained in adult safeguarding procedures and knew what to do if they considered people were at risk of harm or if they needed to report any suspected abuse. Staff were aware of the whistleblowing procedures and knew how to use them.

The risks to people's safety and wellbeing were assessed and reviewed.

There were sufficient numbers of appropriately recruited staff available to help meet people’s current level of needs.

People were supported appropriately with the management of their medicines.

Staff completed appropriate training for good practice with food hygiene and infection control.

The provider had processes in place for the recording and investigation of incidents and accidents.

Staff were supported with a wide range of appropriate training and supervision that they told us helped them to do their jobs effectively.

The provider met the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) to help ensure people’s rights were protected. Staff had received appropriate training and had a good understanding of the MCA. People and their relatives said staff sought their consent before providing care.

People were supported to access health care services as required in order to help them to stay healthy.

Relatives told us staff were consistently kind and caring and established positive relationships with people and with them. They told us staff valued people, treated them with respect and promoted their rights, choice and independence.

People and their relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care. Care plans were reviewed on a regular basis and when there was a change in their care needs. People were given information about how to make a complaint. The people we spoke with knew how to go about making a complaint and were confident that they would be responded to appropriately by the provider. We saw evidence the registered manager responded to complaints received in a timely manner.

We received positive feedback about the management of the service. The registered manager and the staff were approachable and fully engaged with providing good quality care for people who used the service. The provider had systems in place to continually monitor the quality of the service and there were arrangements for people to be asked for their opinions via surveys. Action plans were developed where required to address areas for improvements.