Louisa Homecare Ltd

Updated 5 July 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:

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector and an expert by experience. 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: Louisa Homecare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides support to people 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 visit to ensure the registered manager would be available to assist with the inspection.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed information we had received and held about the service. This included statutory notifications sent to us about events and incidents that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

We visited the office location on 28 May and 3 June 2019, to see the registered manager and staff.

We reviewed people’s support plans and associated care records and information relating to the management of the agency. This included quality auditing and staff recruitment, training and supervision. To gain feedback about the service, we spoke with eight people and six relatives. We contacted two health and social care professionals for their feedback about the service, and both responded.

Updated 5 July 2019

About the service: Louisa Homecare is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes.

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:

People received a reliable service from staff who knew them well.

People were treated with respect and their privacy, dignity and independence was promoted.

Staff cared about people and established relationships had been built.

People felt safe and risks to their safety were identified and minimised. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to report any concerns or suspicion of abuse.

People were encouraged to make decisions and were involved in developing and reviewing their support plans.

People were fully assessed and able to discuss their preferences, before being offered a service. This enabled their needs to be met safely and effectively.

Medicines were safely managed. Staff had received training in the safe administration of medicines and their competency was assessed every year.

People had support with meal preparation and to keep their home, clean and tidy if required.

People were encouraged to give their views about the service they received. This was through surveys, telephone conversations or within reviews of their support.

There were enough staff to support people. More staff were being recruited to enable the agency to steadily grow.

Clear investment was given to staff, which included their learning, support and progression. Staff regularly met with their line manager to gain support and discuss their training needs.

There were a range of audits, which assessed the quality and safety of the service.

There was a caring ethos, which was adopted throughout the staff team. The registered manager told us the agency was started in memory of a very close relative and the desire to provide compassionate, high quality care.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection on 6 December 2016, the service was rated as Good. The report of this inspection was published on 21 December 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned, comprehensive inspection, based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up: We will monitor all intelligence about the service and complete another inspection in line with this and our frequency of inspection guidance.

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