Background to this inspection
Updated
12 December 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. 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 was carried out by two inspectors.
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 who was also the provider. This means that they 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. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 13 November 2019 and ended on 18 November 2019. We visited the office location on 14 November 2019
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with seven people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with two members of staff known as ‘caregivers’, the registered manager, the recruitment and care co-ordinator, the training co-ordinator and the head of client experience. We also spoke to one of the owners who was also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
We reviewed a range of data and records. This included four people’s care records and three people’s medication records. We also reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service such as quality assurance, training and recruitment.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found and spoke to one healthcare professional.
Updated
12 December 2019
About the service
Suite 35 Lake View House is a domiciliary care agency that is part of the Home Instead Senior Care franchise. A franchise is a business in which the owners sell the rights to their business logo, name, and model to independent owners. The service provides personal care and companionship to older people living in their own homes. Some of these people were living with dementia. At the time of the inspection, 53 people received a service from Suite 35 Lake View House. Some of these people received ‘live-in’ care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection 22 people received personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Every person we spoke to told us staff were kind and caring and treated them with dignity and respect. Staff were trained and told us they enjoyed their roles and felt they made a difference to people’s lives. People were supported to express their views and were involved in making decisions about their care.
People told us they were provided with safe care and treatment. Risks to people's health had been identified, assessed and monitored to ensure people received safe care and treatment. Records contained guidance to staff on how to manage risks to keep people safe and the registered manager planned to improve the consistency of detail recorded. Staff knew about people’s individual risks and how to minimise these. Where necessary, people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff understand their role and responsibilities for maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene.
The provider had a robust recruitment process which prevented unsuitable staff from working with vulnerable adults. People told us staff were always on time and stayed for the full length of allocated time. People received care from reliable and consistent staff.
People's needs and preferences had been assessed before receiving care and support. People’s care and support was planned in partnership with them and where appropriate, their family. Records showed referrals had been made to other healthcare professionals when necessary to ensure people remained well.
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. Staff were committed to providing person centred care and respected people's individual preferences.
The registered manager completed regular checks to ensure the people received high quality and compassionate care. People knew how to complain and were confident they would be listened too. Staff and people provided positive feedback about the management of the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
This service was registered with us on 29 November 2018 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.