Archived: Kensington Community Care Birmingham

Updated 19 January 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 18 December 2017 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection activity started on 14 December 2017 and ended on 21 December 2017. It included speaking with people, relatives on the telephone. We visited the office location on 18 December 2017 to see the registered manager and staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. The inspection team consisted of one inspector. As part of the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications that had been submitted. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We contacted the local authority to understand if they had any relevant information to share with us.

We spoke with three people who used the service and eight relatives who supported their family member with the management of their care. We also spoke with eight care staff, the registered manager and the registered provider. We looked at aspects of 13 people’s care records and medication records. We also looked at three staff files, policies and procedures, the registered manager’s complaints procedure, compliments, and audits completed by the management team.

Updated 19 January 2018

This inspection took place on 18 December 2017 and was announced. We gave the registered manager notice of our intention to undertake an inspection. This was because Kensington Community Care Birmingham provides personal care for people who live in their own homes and we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, people living with dementia, mental health impairments, physical disabilities, sensory impairment, and younger adults.

Not everyone using Kensington Community Care Birmingham Service receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. At this inspection we found that 57 people were receiving this type of support. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

There was a registered manager in post when we inspected this service. 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.

The service was last inspected in October 2016, and was rated as requires improvement overall. We found improvement was needed with the training staff received and how the provider recorded people’s capacity to make decisions. We also found people’s care plans were not personalised to ensure staff were aware of people’s individual risks. The systems in place to ensure shortfalls were identified were not consistently effective. We looked at how the service had improved since our last inspection.

People were supported by staff that understood how to keep people safe. We saw examples where safe guarding concerns were raised and acted upon. People had clear risk assessments and were supported by regular staff. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and protect them from infection through their practice. The registered manager investigated accidents and incidents and took action to ensure people were safe.

People and their relatives told us there was a clear assessment process and people had the support they needed. Staff received appropriate training that maintained their skills. When people needed support with food and drink, staff promoted a healthy lifestyle. The management team worked with other organisations when they needed to, and ensured health professionals were involved as required. People were able to make their own decisions and staff supported them to be as independent as possible.

People were supported by caring staff who listened to people and met their needs. People had support from regular staff that knew them well. Staff encouraged people to be as independent as possible and treated them with dignity and respect.

People said they had their needs met, and staff said they had the information they needed to ensure people had the support they wanted. People were supported in a flexible way and the service was adapted to changes in their needs. Complaints were investigated and actioned and lessons learnt shared with staff.

Systems in place to monitor the quality of the care identified short falls and the management team put in place an improvement plan to ensure quality care was delivered. The registered manager knew people’s needs well and regularly talked to people about the quality of their care. Staff said they were well supported and were supported to share best practice ideas.