Archived: Prestige Nursing-Denton

Updated 21 March 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 2010.

This inspection took place on the 30 December 2015 and 6 January 2016 and was announced. We told the staff before the inspection we would be coming, because we wanted to make sure the manager and other appropriate staff were available at the agency’s office.

It was undertaken by an inspector and an expert by experience who had received support from a domiciliary care agency. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who used this type of service.

Before the inspection we reviewed information held about the service. This included notifications, (A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law) and any complaints we had received. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing potential areas of concern. In addition we spoke with the local authority during the inspection.

During the inspection we went to the agency’s office to look at records, including policies and procedures, four care plans and related documents, staff training and supervision, staff rotas and complaints. We spoke with eight staff, including the manager, recruitment person and co-ordinator.

To obtain feedback about the support and care provided we contacted 14 people who used the agency, or their relatives, by telephone after the inspection.

Updated 21 March 2016

Prestige Nursing – Denton is a domiciliary care agency based in Newhaven. They provide support and care for 42 older people living in their own home in Newhaven, Seaford and Peacehaven. Some people need support with personal care and assistance moving around their home, due to physical frailty or medical conditions, others were at risk of falls.

There had been no registered manager at the agency since May 2015. A manager had been appointed and had applied to register at the time of the inspection, but is no longer managing the agency. 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.

This inspection took place on the 30 December 2015 and 6 January 2016 and was announced.

There were systems in place to keep people safe and people told us they felt safe and happy. However, we found there were areas that required improvement with regard to the administration of medicines, staffing and record keeping and, how these were managed by the provider. This showed that the provider’s assessment and monitoring of the quality of the services provided by the agency was not effective.

People said staff provided the support they needed. One person told us, “I think everyone is very friendly and approachable. The carers are lovely and really caring.” Staff attended relevant training and they had a good understanding of people’s individual needs. They were clear about their roles and responsibilities and, felt they were supported by the management through the supervision programme.

People were supported by experienced staff and, robust recruitment and selection processes were in place. Relevant checks were carried out before staff started working for Prestige Nursing – Denton to ensure only those suitable were employed.

Assessments were carried out to identify people’s support needs before the support started and these had been agreed with people, or their relatives, to ensure the agency provided the care they needed. Care plans identified people’s specific needs; these included risk assessments for the home’s environment, people’s mobility and the support they needed. For example, aids like hoists.

Risk had been assessed to ensure people were able to take risks. Staff provided support if required, such as assisting people to keep mobile with the use of mobility aids and, where appropriate additional support was provided to enable people to go into the town safely. There was guidance for staff to follow, staff knew people really well and they had a good understanding of people’s individual support needs.