Willowbrook Homecare

Willowbrook Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care support to people living with dementia, mental health and older people. It supports people who have a physical disability and younger adults, all who live in their own homes. The agency is situated in the town of Lytham. The office is accessible to anyone with mobility problems. At the time of our inspection there were 65 people receiving a service from Willowbrook Home Care.

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 we spoke with were extremely positive about staff and support they received. For example, one person said, “The staff are wonderful always on time and do a super job for me.” Another said, “I could not do without them absolute angels.” Staff continued to be recruited safely, and staff were deployed to provide the right support for people. Staff demonstrated a good understanding about safeguarding people from the risk of abuse and training was provided and updated. Staff managed medicines according to national guidelines and one said, “Training is very good around medication practices and administration.” Staff assessed and helped manage avoidable risks. In addition, any incidents that occurred would be analysed and lessons learnt from them. Support for people was planned to ensure the persons needs and wishes were considered. Risks were assessed in the individual homes and person centred to ensure people were protected and could be supported safely. Staff were provided with personal protective equipment to protect people and themselves from the spread of infection. One staff member said, “We have no shortages of PPE.”

People received support with their healthcare and nutritional needs. they 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. Staff training was ongoing and comments from staff were positive about access and continued access to courses. Staff we spoke with confirmed this.

People supported by the agency told us staff and the management team who visited them were polite, reliable and professional in their approach to their work. Staff continued to support people to attend healthcare appointments if necessary.

The service had a complaints procedure which was made available to people they supported. People we spoke with told us they knew how to make a complaint if they had any concerns.

The management team had extensive auditing systems to maintain ongoing oversight of the service and make improvements where necessary. Quality assurance processes ensured people were able to give their views of the service and improvements made when they were identified.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.

Right support:

• Model of care and setting maximises people's choice, control and independence.

Care and support had been developed around individual assessed needs. Staff worked in a way which promoted the persons independence. For example, People told us staff encouraged them to participate in their care and choices where possible.

Right care:

• Care is person-centred and promotes people's dignity, privacy and human rights

Care support plans were person centred and ensured the individual and family were involved in the development and review of their plan as far as possible. Training and support for staff ensured human rights was at the heart of the delivery of care and support.

Right culture:

• Ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

The ethos of the agency was to develop and target support which suited the individual and helped them live the best life possible.

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 good and was (published 17 January 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively

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.

Willowbrook Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care support to people living with dementia, mental health and older people. It supports people who have a physical disability and younger adults, all who live in their own homes. The agency is situated in the town of Lytham. The office is accessible to anyone with mobility problems. At the time of our inspection there were 96 people receiving a service from Willowbrook Homecare.

Willowbrook home care was registered as a domiciliary care agency with the Care Quality Commission in October 2016. We had not previously inspected the service since the change of registration.

The service had sufficient staffing levels in place to provide support people required in their own homes. There was evidence by talking with people who used the service and relatives found staff showed concern for people’s wellbeing and responded quickly when people required their help.

The service had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and took necessary action as required. Staff had received safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report unsafe care or abusive practices.

We found there was an appropriate skill mix of staff to ensure the needs of people who used the service were met. New staff worked alongside experienced staff members and shadowed them to ensure they understood their role in people’s homes.

The management team planned visits to allow staff members enough time to reach people and complete all allocated tasks safely.

Care plans were organised and had identified the care and support people required. We found they were personalised and informative about the care people received. They had been kept under review and updated when necessary. They reflected any risks and people’s changing needs.

Medication procedures protected people from unsafe management of their medicines. People received their medicines as prescribed and when required them.

Staff were provided with personal protective equipment to protect people and themselves from the spread of infection.

Staff had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and supported. They had skills, knowledge and experience required to support people in their own homes.

People who received a service from Willowbrook told us they were involved in their care and had discussed and consented to their care packages. We found staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA).

When appropriate meals and drinks were prepared for people. This ensured people received adequate nutrition and hydration. Staff had received food and hygiene training to ensure they were confident when preparing meals in people’s homes.

Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs.

People supported by the agency told us staff and the management team who visited them were polite, reliable and professional in their approach to their work.

Staff told us they received supervision with the registered manager on a regular basis. Records we looked at confirmed this. This meant they had opportunities to discuss any issues or training needs that would support them to provide a better service.

Staff supported people to attend healthcare appointments and liaised with their GP and other healthcare professionals. This was confirmed by records kept by the agency and talking with people who used the service.

People who used the service and their relatives/carers told us staff were caring and kind towards them. Staff we spoke with understood the importance of high standards of care to give people meaningful lives.

The service had a complaints procedure which was made available to people they supported. People we spoke with told us they knew how to make a complaint if they had any concerns.

The registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits and staff meetings to seek their views about the service provided.