Northwest Domiciliary Agency

Updated 15 December 2017

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 comprehensive inspection was conducted on 03 November 2017 and it was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit. This was because the location provides a small domiciliary care service and we needed someone to be at the agency office who could provide us with the information we needed to see.

This service is a 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.

This service also provides care and support to people living in a ‘supported living’ setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

The inspection team consisted of one Adult Social Care Inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is someone who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. This expert-by-experience was supporting a family member who had a learning disability and autism.

Prior to this inspection we looked at all the information we held about this service, including information the provider had told us about, such as significant events. We listened to what people had to tell us, such as those who used the service, relatives and staff members. We also asked for feedback from local commissioners and community professionals about the services provided by Northwest domiciliary agency.

The provider had sent us their Provider Information Return [PIR] within the timeframes requested. A PIR gives us key information about the service and tells us about improvements they intend to make.

The methods we used for gathering evidence included speaking with six people who used the service and a family member. We also visited four people who lived in the community, interviewed staff and pathway tracked the care and support of four people who used the service. Pathway tracking enables us to establish if people are receiving the care and support they need.

We looked at a wide range of records, including a variety of policies and procedures, medication records, quality monitoring systems and the personnel files of four staff members.

Updated 15 December 2017

Northwest domiciliary agency is a domiciliary care agency, which provides personal care and support for adults who live in the community and who have mental health issues, a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder. The agency office is based in a residential area of Ormskirk. At the time of our inspection the service supported five people who lived in a supported living setting and six people who lived in their own houses in the community. Twenty four care staff were appointed.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People were safe using the services of Northwest domiciliary agency. Recruitment practices and safeguarding policies helped to protect people from harm. Detailed assessments provided good guidance for staff about how health care risks could be minimised and we found medicines were being well managed. This helped to ensure people were kept safe.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems of the service supported this practice.

Personal development for staff was an important aspect of the organisations ethos. This was supported by detailed induction programmes, regular supervisions, annual appraisals and a varied training schedule for all those who were employed. This helped to ensure the staff team was knowledgeable, competent and confident to deliver the care and support which people needed.

Staff members were kind and caring towards those who used the service. People’s privacy, dignity and independence were consistently promoted. The staff team had received training in relation to equality and diversity. This helped to ensure that everyone was treated equally and were afforded the same opportunities.

Medicines and complaints were being well managed and people were offered appropriate choices at all times. The plans of care were person centred; providing staff with clear guidance about people’s assessed needs and how these needs were to be best met. This helped to ensure people received the care and support relevant to their individual health and social care needs.

Regular audits, surveys and risk assessments had been conducted, so that the quality of service could be closely monitored. This helped to ensure people were receiving the care and support they required. Meetings for staff and service users were held at regular intervals. This enabled people to be involved in decisions about how the service was run.

We always ask the following five questions of services.