Holistic Social Care Birmingham

Updated 14 May 2019

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:

This inspection was completed by one adult social care inspector from the Care Quality Commission, (CQC).

Service and Service type:

Holistic Social Care Birmingham, provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection there were two people who received a regulated activity. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that 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 gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 12 February 2019 when we visited the office and completed a home visit. Inspection activity ended on 11 March 2019 when we reviewed further documents and made telephone calls to relatives.

What we did:

Before the inspection: Our inspection plan took into account information the provider sent us since they were first registered in May 2017. We also considered information about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse or serious injuries. We requested information from Birmingham city council quality and safeguarding teams and the local clinical commissioning group who had no concerns.

During the inspection: We reviewed the care records for two people supported by the service, we spoke with the registered manager and interviewed one member of staff. We visited one person in their own home who was in receipt of a service. We reviewed the recruitment records for two staff. We also reviewed policies and procedures, records of any incidents, accidents or complaints and governance and audit records.

Updated 14 May 2019

About the service: Holistic Social Care Birmingham, is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes in the Birmingham area. The service provides support to all adult service user groups but had primarily been established to meet the specific cultural needs of Muslims from Somalia. At the time of this inspection there were two people receiving a regulated activity.

People’s experience of using this service:

Safeguarding policies and procedures ensured people were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. One person we spoke with told us they felt safe because of the care and support they received.

Effective risk assessments and management plans ensured people were supported to manage risks in their daily lives.

Where people were supported with medicines we could see this had been provided safely.

Effective infection control policies and access to the right equipment ensured people were protected from the risk of infection.

Staff had been recruited safely and were deployed in ways which ensured people received their full visit.

People's needs had been assessed holistically and support plans developed to ensure people were supported effectively. People had been supported to maintain their health and wellbeing and had access to healthcare services when required.

Staff had received a robust induction and ongoing training the staff we spoke with felt they had effective knowledge and skills to support people. One person we spoke with praised the skills and knowledge of the staff.

Staff understood the importance of achieving consent before providing care and support. At the time of this inspection there was no one subject to any deprivation of liberty that might need to be authorised under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA). Nonetheless staff we spoke with were aware of their obligations under this legislation.

Staff were seen to be kind and caring. One person we spoke with praised the staff's caring approach and respectful support, particularly in relation to their cultural and religious needs.

People were fully involved in making decisions about their care, communication guides were clear which ensured people were supported appropriately including other languages.

People's diversity and equality needs were clearly identified in their care records and the support people needed to maintain these was detailed.

People received person centred care which was responsive to their needs. We could see people had been referred for review and reassessment when required in response to their changing needs.

People's concerns and complaints had been considered and responded to in a timely way following the service's procedure.

There was a clear vision and culture based on achieving high quality care and positive outcomes for people. The management team sought to embed these values in the team.

Regular monitoring and auditing of care records and practice helped to maintain the quality and values of the service people received.

There was a clear commitment to support people with specific protected characteristics which informed the culture of the service. This had been valued by people receiving a regulated activity.

Why we inspected: This was the first inspection following the service registering in July 2017.

Follow up: The next scheduled inspection will be in keeping with the overall rating. We will continue to monitor information we receive from and about the service. We may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information about the service.

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