Homecare Solutions Ltd

Updated 3 January 2020

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 carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Homecare Solutions Ltd is a ‘domiciliary care service’. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means 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 carried out this inspection on 3 and 5 December 2019.

The inspection was announced on 29 November 2019 to ensure the inspection could be facilitated by the registered manager at the location office.

What we did:

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information and evidence we already held about this service, which had been collected via our ongoing monitoring of care services. This included notifications sent to us by the service. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send to us without delay.

We also viewed the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We contacted the local authority for feedback about the service in advance of our inspection.

The first day of the inspection was spent at the main office reviewing records such as care plans, staff files, supervision/appraisal records, complaints and quality assurance documentation. The second day of the inspection consisted of speaking with people who used the service and relatives about the care and support they received. During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, three care staff, two people who used the service and three relatives.

Documentation reviewed included three care plans, five staff personnel files, two medicine administration records (MAR) and other records about the management of the service to help inform our inspection judgements.

Updated 3 January 2020

About the service:

Homecare Solutions Ltd is domiciliary care service based in Salford and provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were seven people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

We have made a recommendation to ensure the registered manager strengthens their quality assurance systems. Although we were told audits and quality assurance checks were completed, these were not always clearly documented.

Spot checks and competency assessments of staff carrying out their work were completed and staff meetings took place to enable staff to share their views about the service.

People told us they felt safe using the service and staff displayed good knowledge about how to protect people from the risk of harm. People told us they received their medicines as prescribed and staff were also recruited safely, with appropriate checks carried out when their employment commenced.

There were enough staff to care for people safely, with staff and people using the service telling us current staffing arrangements were sufficient and their rotas were well managed. Accidents and incidents were monitored and any actions taken to prevent future re-occurrence were recorded.

People received the support they needed to eat and drink. Staff told us they were happy with the level of training, support and supervision available to develop them in their roles.

People 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.

People said they felt treated with dignity and respect and staff promoted their independence as required.

No complaints had been made about the service, although we found appropriate systems were in place should any be received. A number of compliments were also made about the service from people who used the service and families.

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

Rating at last inspection:

This last inspection was in May 2017 (published May 2017) and the overall rating was Good.

Why we inspected:

This was a routine comprehensive inspection and in line with our timescales for previously Good rated services.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor information and intelligence we receive about the service to ensure good quality care is provided to people. We will return to re-inspect in line with our inspection timescales for Good rated services, however if any information of concern is received, we may inspect sooner.