Holistic Social Care

Updated 29 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 inspection took place on 5 and 6 September 2018 and was announced. This meant we gave the provider 48 hours' notice of our intended inspection to ensure that the registered manager or a representative would be available in the office to meet us. The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector.

We did not ask the service to complete the Provider Information Return (PIR), prior to the date of the inspection. The PIR 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 reviewed other 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.

We contacted Manchester local authority, and Healthwatch (Manchester) to obtain their views about the quality of this service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. All of the comments and feedback received was reviewed and used to assist and inform our inspection.

During the inspection, we visited two people at home with their prior consent. We spoke with the registered manager and four care workers. During the inspection, we reviewed documents and records that related to people's care and the management of the service. We reviewed two people's care plans, which included risk assessments and three staff files which included pre-employment checks. We looked at other documents held at the service such as training and supervision records.

Updated 29 September 2018

This inspection took place on 5 and 6 September 2018 and was announced. This meant we gave the provider 48 hours' notice of our intended inspection to ensure that the registered manager or a representative would be available in the office to meet us.

Holistic Social Care is a small 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. On the day of our inspection there were four people receiving the regulated activity of personal care, which was approximately 80 hours per week.

At the last inspection in June 2017 we identified one breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This was in relation to one person’s risk assessment not capturing their assessed needs.

During this inspection on 5 and 6 September 2018 we found improvements had been made towards meeting the requirements to help ensure people received an improved quality of service and there was no longer a breach of regulation.

The service had a registered manager who had been registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) since December 2015. 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.

We found there were systems in place to protect people from the risk of harm. Staff we spoke with were able to explain the procedures to follow should an allegation of abuse be made. Assessments identified risks to people, and management plans to reduce the risks were in place to ensure people's safety.

People praised the kind and caring approach of staff. Staff were respectful and explained clearly how people's privacy and dignity were maintained. Staff understood the needs of people and care plans were person-centred. People and their relatives spoke very positively about the care provided.

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, although at the time of our inspection people did not require support with their medicines.

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

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

The registered manager promoted an open and inclusive culture within the service. Carer workers felt valued and well-supported in their work.

People had no complaints about the service they received or about the staff that provided their care and support; they were aware of the complaints procedure and processes and were confident they would be listened to should they raise any concerns.

There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.