Archived: Ark Home Healthcare Nottingham

Updated 21 October 2016

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.

We visited the service on 28 September 2016, this was an announced inspection. We gave notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available. The inspection team consisted of 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.

Prior to our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service. This included information received and statutory notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

During our inspection we spoke with 13 people who used the service, one relative, two support workers, a team leader, a care coordinator and the registered manager. We looked at the care records of six people who used the service and any associated daily records such as the daily log and medicine administration records. We looked at six staff files as well as a range of records relating to the running of the service such as quality audits and training records.

Updated 21 October 2016

This inspection took place on 28 September 2016. Ark Home Healthcare Nottingham is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to people in their own home in Nottinghamshire.

There is a registered manager and she was available during the inspection. 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.

Staff knew how to keep people safe and understood their responsibilities to protect people from the risk of abuse. Risks to people’s health and safety were managed and plans were in place to enable staff to support people safely. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s care needs and staff were recruited safely. People received the level of support they required to safely manage their medicines.

Staff received appropriate induction, training and supervision. People’s rights were protected under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People received the assistance they required to have enough to eat and drink. External professionals were involved in people’s care as appropriate.

Positive and caring relationships had been developed between staff and people who used the service. People were involved in the planning and reviewing of their care and making decisions about what care they wanted. People were treated with dignity and respect by staff who understood the importance of this.

People received the care they needed and staff were aware of the different support each person needed. Care records provided sufficient information for staff to provide personalised care. People felt able to make a complaint and knew how to do so.

People and their relatives were involved in the development of the service. Staff told us they would be confident raising any concerns with the management and that the registered manager would take action. There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.