Archived: West Park Care Harrogate

Updated 15 February 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an assistant inspector.

Service and service type

West Park Care Harrogate is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service did not have a manager registered with the CQC. A registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided. The service was managed by the provider's quality assurance manager and we have referred to them as 'the manager' throughout the report. A new manager had also been recruited and applied to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

The inspection was announced; we gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and we wanted to be sure the manager would be available to speak with us when we visited.

Inspection activity started on 10 December 2019 and ended on 11 December 2019. We visited the office location on 11 December 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it registered. We sought feedback from the local authority and 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 this information to help plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return before this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service, six people’s relatives and received feedback from four health and social care professionals. We spoke with the two directors, quality assurance manager, and four members of care staff.

We reviewed two people's care records in full and one person’s in part, including their medication administration records and daily notes. We looked at two staff's recruitment, induction, training and supervision records as well as other records relating to the management of the service.

After the inspection

We continued to review evidence from the inspection and seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 15 February 2020

About the service

West Park Care Harrogate is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The service specialises in supporting younger adults and older people who may be living with a physical disability, mental health needs, a sensory impairment or dementia.

Not everyone who used the service received support with personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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 eight people were receiving support with personal care.

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

People received safe care and support which met their needs. Staff had been recruited safely and there were systems in place to make sure people received support at the times they needed.

Staff had been trained to identify and respond to safeguarding concerns. Staff understood people’s needs and detailed risk assessments were in place to support them to provide safe care. Medicines were managed and administered safely.

When an accident or incident had occurred, staff responded appropriately and the manager was very thorough in making sure lessons were learnt and action taken to try and stop a similar thing happening again.

Staff completed a range of training and regular supervisions and spot checks helped make sure they provided effective care. New staff had an induction and shadowed other staff to develop their confidence and learn how to meet people’s individual needs.

Management worked very closely with other professionals to make sure people’s needs were met. They were quick to respond to changes in people’s needs and seek advice, guidance and support.

The manager had a very good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the importance of making sure people’s rights were protected. 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 kind and caring. They respected people’s privacy, maintained their dignity and promoted people’s independence. The provider employed a small team, which helped people get to know staff and develop caring relationships with them.

Staff understood people’s communication needs and the requirement to provide accessible information to help people understand choices and make decisions.

People’s care was planned and delivered in a person-centred way. People, their relatives and professionals were all involved in assessments and reviews. The provider did not organise visits which were less than 30 minutes to make sure staff had time to spend with people and provide person-centred care.

We made a recommendation about developing and implementing an end of life care policy and procedure.

People felt able to speak with staff or management if they wanted to complain about the service. The manager was very responsive to feedback.

There was a person-centred culture within the service. Good organisation and thorough audits helped management monitor the quality and safety of the service. Management worked proactively to continually improve the service provided to people.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 28 December 2018 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service was registered.

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.