Prados Home Help Services

Updated 19 September 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 was a planned comprehensive inspection which took place on 24 July 2018. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because the location provides a small domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be available in to facilitate the inspection.

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector. At the time of our inspection 17 people were using the service.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed information that we held about the service including previous inspection reports and notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. This information helped us to identify and address potential areas of concern. We also gained feedback from a health and a social care professional involved in the service.

We reviewed the care records of four people and reviewed records relating to the management of the service. We obtained feedback from three members of staff and two healthcare professionals. We gathered feedback from people by looking at care reviews and quality assurance questionnaires. We spoke with the deputy manager, the registered manager and two people.

Updated 19 September 2018

Prados Home Help Services provides care and support to people living in their own home. At the time of our inspection 17 people were using the service.

At our last inspection on 17 May 2015 we rated the service good. However, we found a breach of Regulation 11 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008. Need for consent. At this inspection we found improvement had been made and the provider was no longer in breach. The evidence we obtained continued to support the rating of good. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The inspection was carried out on 24 July 2018 and was conducted by one inspector.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

People told us they felt safe when receiving a service at home and were supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

There were sufficient staff available to ensure people's wellbeing, safety and security was protected. An appropriate recruitment and selection process was in place which ensured new staff had the right skills and were suitable to work with people living in their own home. Staff had a good understanding of systems in place to manage medicines and safeguarding matters.

People were supported to manage their medicines safely.

The service was working within the legal requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) (MCA).

People we spoke with said they were involved in care planning and were confident that their comments and concerns would be acted upon.

The provider took account of any complaints and comments to improve the service.

Risk assessments were in place for a number of areas and were regularly updated, and staff had a good knowledge and understanding of people's health conditions.

Feedback received from people who used the service and their relatives was overwhelmingly positive and people were encouraged to contribute their views.

People were positive about the staff who supported them and told us they liked the staff and were treated with dignity and kindness.

People were satisfied with the support they received in relation to nutrition and hydration. There was an open and transparent culture and encouragement for people to provide feedback.

People told us they were aware of how to make a complaint and were confident they could express any concerns which would be addressed.

Staff told us they enjoyed working for the organisation and spoke positively about the culture and management of the service. They also told us that they were encouraged to openly discuss any issues.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.