Archangel Home Care

Updated 25 June 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One inspector and an expert by experience conducted the inspection. 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: Archangel home Care is a domiciliary care service and provides personal care to people living in the community.

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 visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 21 March 2019 and ended on 01 April 2019, It included telephone calls to people who used the service and staff. We visited the office location on 21/03/2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information the service is required to send us by law. The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require registered providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also contacted the local authority who commission care for people who use the service. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with four people who used the service, three relatives, the registered managers, and four support staff. We reviewed a range of records, this included staff files and care records, incident reports and audits.

Updated 25 June 2019

About the service: Archangel is a domiciliary care service which provides support and personal care to adults living in their own homes or supported living accommodation who may require support with their mental health, have a learning disability or be on the autistic spectrum. Archangel was registered to provide personal care to 32 younger adults. There were six people received a regulated activity at the time of our inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: Staff raised concerns in the deployment and levels of staff. Risk were assessed, but not always recorded. There was a risk staff were not trained to follow infection control guidelines effectively. Processes were in place to manage accidents and incidents, but outcomes were not always recorded. People were kept safe from harm. Medicine systems were organised, and people received their medicine as prescribed.

Staff supervision and support was not taking place on a regular basis. People’s needs were assessed. Staff were knowledgeable about the people they cared for. People’s nutritional needs were met. The service supported people to work with other professionals and agencies to ensure they received effective care. People were involved in decisions about the environment they lived. People were supported to live a healthy life style. The service was working within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Staff were kind and companionate towards the people they cared for. People were supported to express their views about their care and support. People were treated with respect at all times.

Care was personalised to each individual and people were empowered to make choices and have control of their life. People were aware how to make a complaint and raise a concern, however these were not always recorded to identify the outcome for people. End of life policies and procedures were in place should people wish to discuss their end of life care needs.

People complimented the service and their experience was good. Planning and development was not always monitored or recorded in line with the providers policy and procedures. There was a registered manager in place, but staff felt they were not always approachable or organised to support them. People were involved in their care and support and had the opportunity to give feedback about the service. The registered manager was passionate about the care the service provided and put processes in place to learn and improve the service. People were supported to access other professionals and work with other agencies as required.

Rating at last inspection: Good date last report published 26 March 2016

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. We saw the service had deteriorated since the last inspection. This meant the service required improvement.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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