Background to this inspection
Updated
18 October 2018
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.
This inspection took place on the 10 September 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.
The inspection was carried out by an 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.
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we already held about this service. This included details of its registration and notifications of any significant incidents the provider had sent us. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require 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 contacted local authorities who commissioned care from the service to seek their views.
We spoke by telephone with six people who used the service and five relatives. We spoke with eleven staff; the registered manager, operations manager, training manager, senior coordinator, field care supervisor, recruitment and administration officer, senior practitioner and four care practitioners. We looked at 15 sets of records relating to people including their care plans and risk assessments, and where they had them, their medicine records. We examined six sets of staff recruitment and supervision records and the training matrix for all staff. Quality assurance and monitoring systems were inspected and we looked at minutes of staff meetings.
Updated
18 October 2018
This inspection took place on the 10 September 2018 and was announced. This service was registered at its current location in July 2017 and this was the first inspection of it at this location. It was previously registered at a different location and we inspected it in December 2016. At that time, we found no breaches of regulations and rated it as Good.
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. 153 people were using the service at the time of inspection.
The service had a registered manager in place. 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.
Appropriate safeguarding procedures were in place and people told us they felt safe using the service. Risk assessments provided information about how to support people in a safe manner. There were enough staff working at the service to meet people's needs and robust staff recruitment procedures were in place. Staff had a good understanding about infection control issues and used protective clothing to help prevent the spread of infection. Medicines were managed safely.
The service carried out an assessment of people’s needs prior to the provision of care. This enabled the service to determine if it was a suitable care provider for each individual. Staff undertook an induction training programme on commencing work at the service and had access to regular on-going training to help them develop relevant skills and knowledge. Where people required support with meal preparation they were able to choose what they ate and drank. The service operated within the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The staff supported people to access health care professionals and they were aware of what to do if a person faced a medical emergency.
People were supported by the same regular care staff so they were able to build good relationships. People were treated in a caring and respectful manner by staff and were supported to maintain their independence. The right to confidentiality was taken seriously by the service and staff understood the importance of this.
People told us the service was responsive to their needs. Care plans were in place which set out how to meet people’s individual needs and these were subject to review. The service had a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to make a complaint. Complaints were dealt with in line with the procedure.
People and staff spoke positively about the registered manager and the leadership team. Systems were in place for monitoring the quality of support provided at the service. Some of these included seeking the views of people who used the service. The registered manager networked with other agencies to help develop their knowledge and to improve the quality of support provided to people.