House of Care Services Ltd

Updated 23 October 2020

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an assistant inspector. One inspector visited the provider’s office. The other inspector, and the assistant inspector contacted people, relatives and care workers by telephone to gather feedback on their experiences.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. They were also the provider and that means they 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 72 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure a manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 08 October 2020 and ended on 12 October 2020. We visited the office location on 09 October 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We gathered feedback from local authority commissioners who work to find appropriate care and support services for people and fund the care provided.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and two people’s relatives about their experiences. We spoke with the care coordinator and four care workers. We reviewed five people's care records and six people’s medicine administration records (MAR) to ensure people had received their medicines as prescribed. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service including quality audits. We also reviewed three staff files to check staff had been recruited safely.

After the inspection

We reviewed further records relating to the management of the service including minutes of staff meetings, training data, electronic care records and a some of the provider’s policies.

Updated 23 October 2020

House of Care Services Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care support to people in their

own homes. Support is provided to older people, people living with dementia, people with learning disabilities, people with physical disabilities and people with mental health conditions. At the time of our inspection the service provided personal care to 17 people. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.

People's experience of using this service and what we found

People felt safe with their care workers and safeguarding procedures protected people from harm. Risk management had improved since our last inspection and detailed risk management plans supported care workers to provide consistent, safe care to people. Staff were trained in safeguarding and understood their responsibility to report any concerns about people to their managers. Lessons had been learnt when things had gone wrong.

Care workers followed good infection control practice and understood their responsibilities in relation to preventing and controlling infections to keep people safe.

Staff were recruited safely. People’s needs had been assessed before they started to receive a service. People confirmed their care calls had been provided at the correct times for the agreed duration.

People received their medicines when they needed them from trained and competent care workers. People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain their health.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the

least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported

this practice.

People and their relatives had confidence in the ability of their care workers to deliver safe and effective care. Care workers spoke positively about their training and felt supported and appreciated by their managers.

Effective governance systems monitored the quality and safety of the service provided. People spoke positively about the leadership of the service and told us they would recommend the service to others. People felt listened to and were encouraged to share feedback about the service they received, which had been used to support service improvement.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 21 March 2019) and there were two breaches of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after that inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulations 11 (Need for Consent) and 17 (Good Governance).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. We undertook this focused inspection to check the provider had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for House of Care Services ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.