Archived: Pulse - Leeds

Pulse Community Healthcare Associate provides social care and health support services to people in their own homes. Pulse Leeds works with a variety of organisations to provide bespoke 'care packages'. The agency provides care and support to a wide range of people including people who are elderly, people diagnosed with dementia and people with learning or physical disabilities. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our 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.

Risks associated with people’s care and support were well assessed, and documented in detail to ensure staff worked with people in ways which minimised those risks. The provider ensured staff were knowledgeable about the risks of abuse and had policies, practices and training in place to ensure staff understood their responsibilities under safeguarding.

We saw accidents and incidents were reported to the office and logged on an electronic system. We were able to see what actions had been taken in response to these reports.

Recruitment of staff was safe. The provider undertook thorough background checks of applicants and kept records of applications and interviews used to assess their suitability for the role.

Medicines were well managed, and where errors in recording had occurred we were able to see documents which showed the registered manager had taken action to prevent the error re- occurring.

Staff received a thorough induction which included checks on their competencies with a variety of procedures before they began providing care and support unsupervised. We saw there was a programme of training in place which included mandatory training which was regularly refreshed. Staff also received training specific to the needs of people they supported. A programme of regular supervision meetings and annual appraisals was in place.

People gave consent for their care and treatment, and there were appropriate systems in place to ensure that people who lacked capacity to make decisions were appropriately supported with best interests’ decisions and reference to the Court of Protection.

The provider asked at interview about potential staff member’s approach to maintaining people’s privacy and dignity, and we received feedback from people to confirm staff worked in ways which ensured peoples’ dignity and independence were respected.

People were involved in writing their care plans, which were written in a person-centred way and contained guidance for staff to enable them to deliver care and support in the ways the person preferred. Care plans were reviewed regularly with people to ensure they always represented up to date care and support needs.

We saw the provider had robust systems in place to ensure any complaints or concerns were recorded and investigated.

Feedback about leadership in the service was positive, and we saw there was a high level of provider support for the registered manager. Quality in the service was measured at provider level, with the registered manager receiving reports and action plans as required.

'The staff generally arrive on time and always make sure I have everything I need before they leave, I am pleased with all aspects of the service.' However, three people felt that there was at times a lack of communication within the organisation and messages were not always passed on or action taken to address matters.

We spoke with eight people who used the service and all but one said they were happy with the care and support they received. People told us they were well looked after. One person said, 'The staff are very nice.' Another person said, 'I love my carer.' Not all the people asked had signed the records to consent to their care and support planned.

Records we saw confirmed Pulse Community Healthcare had effective recruitment and selection policies in place which ensured staff members were of good character and had the required skills to perform their work.

People were cared for, or supported by, suitably qualified, skilled and experienced staff. Staff spoken with knew the people they were supporting very well. People who used the service told us they were comfortable with the members of staff who were supporting them. Staff told us people received very good care and support.

People told us they could contact the manager or staff at the service if they needed to discuss anything. People said they had the opportunity to talk about their opinions of the service during reviews.

People had their comments and complaints listened to and acted on, without the fear that they would be discriminated against for making a complaint.

We found people were treated with dignity and respect and received care that met their needs.

People who used the agency had the relevant information in their care plans that were centred on their needs. The documents were regularly reviewed by staff and updated as and when required.

The staff we spoke with told us they were generally happy with the support they received from the senior management team. Comments included, "The training we received is really good, but sometimes we are not given much notice.' 'I feel we are providing a good service" and "The staffing problems experienced by the agency in 2012 are improving significantly."