Background to this inspection
Updated
18 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 2014.
This inspection took place on 14 and 27 January 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to ensure we could access records.
The inspection was undertaken by one Inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included notifications about important events which the service has to send us by law. We asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. The form was completed appropriately and returned to us within the timescale we set. As part of this process we sent questionnaires to 19 people using the service, 8 staff and 18 health professionals. We received responses from six people using the service, three staff and one health professional.
During the inspection we spoke with four staff, the registered manager and a member of the senior management team. We looked at a range of records including three care plans and three staff recruitment files. The expert-by-experience telephoned eight people and two relatives to seek their views directly.
Updated
18 March 2016
The inspection took place on 14 and 27 January 2016 and was announced. We gave 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that records would be available.
The agency offers a service to people of any age who may be living with dementia or have a physical or learning disability. The agency currently supports about 30 people in their own homes.
There was a registered manager at the 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.
People and their relatives described the care as being safe. The provider had policies and procedures in place designed to protect people from abuse. Staff had completed training with regard to safeguarding adults. Risks to people’s personal safety had been assessed and plans were in place to minimise these risks.
The provider had a safe recruitment procedure in place which included seeking references and completing checks through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before employing new staff. New staff completed a thorough induction before they began working with people.
People’s rights were protected because the staff acted in accordance with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported by sufficient staff with the right skills and knowledge to meet their individual needs. Staff had been trained in various topics to meet people’s assessed needs. People were supported to eat and drink adequately, to take their medicines and access healthcare when they became unwell.
People were positive about the relationships they had with staff. Staff knew people well, they knew their likes, dislikes, preferences and their daily routines. People were involved in making decisions about their care and support. People’s privacy and dignity was respected by staff who were polite and thoughtful.
Everyone had a care plan in place which was responsive to their assessed needs. Care plans showed people’s preferences, their personal histories and the support they needed throughout the day. The provider had a complaints procedure in place which outlined how complaints would be dealt with and who would investigate. A record of complaints was kept and we saw where complaints had been made, they had been investigated in a timely way.
People were happy with the quality of the service they received. People were provided with a service user guide which included information about the service and what standards people had a right to expect. The service promoted a positive culture which was open and honest and staff enjoyed working there. Effective quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of service being delivered.