Archived: Care In The Home

Updated 6 December 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.

The inspection took place on 8 and 9 November 2016. It was carried out by one inspector and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office. We were assisted on the day of our inspection by the registered manager.

We looked at all the information we had collected about the service. This included any notifications the service had sent us. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to tell us about by law.

As part of the inspection we spoke with the registered manager and twelve members of staff. We also sought feedback from people who use the service, their relatives and health and social care professionals. We received feedback from four people who use the service and four of their relatives. We did not receive responses from health and social care professionals.

We looked at five people's care plans, monitoring records and medication sheets, six staff recruitment files, staff training records and the staff supervision and annual appraisal log. We reviewed a number of other documents relating to the management of the service. For example, safeguarding records, complaints, compliments, incidents records and staff meeting minutes.

Updated 6 December 2016

This inspection took place on 8 and 9 November 2016 and was announced. We gave the registered manager 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to make sure someone would be in the office. This was the first inspection of the service since it was added to the provider's registration on 11 May 2015.

Care In The Home is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes in the Wokingham and Bracknell areas. At the time of our inspection there were 53 people receiving a service.

The service had a registered manager as required. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 present and assisted us during the inspection.

People were protected from risks to their health and wellbeing and were protected from the risk of abuse. Safe recruitment practices were followed before new staff were employed to work with people. Checks were made to ensure staff were of good character and suitable for their role.

Staff received training to enable them to do their jobs safely and to a good standard.

People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity was promoted. People said their care workers were kind and caring. Staff were responsive to the needs of the people they supported and enabled them to maintain their independence as much as possible.

People's health and well-being was assessed and measures put in place to ensure people's needs were met in an individualised way. Medicines were managed well and staff administering medicines were only allowed to do so after completing their training and being assessed as competent. Where included in their care package, people were supported to eat and drink enough.

People received support that was individualised to their specific needs. Their needs were monitored and care plans reviewed regularly or as changes occurred. People's rights to make their own decisions, where possible, were protected and staff were aware of their responsibilities to ensure people's rights to make their own decisions were promoted. People confirmed they were involved in decision-making about their care and support needs.

People benefitted from receiving a service from staff who worked well together and felt management worked with them as a team. Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of service being delivered and the running of the service.