Archived: RNID-Action on Hearing Loss, West Midlands Domiciliary Care Service

The provider is registered with us to provide personal care and support for people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection one person received care and support from this service.

People’s experience of using this service:

People continued to receive safe care. Individual risks were considered and reviewed. There were enough staff available to offer support to people, so they could receive their assessed hours. There were safeguarding procedures in place and staff demonstrated an understanding in this. Infection control procedures were in place and followed. There were systems in place to ensure lessons were learnt when things went wrong.

The care people received was effective. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff received training that helped them to support people. When needed people received support from health professionals.

People continued to be supported in a caring way by staff they were happy with. People's privacy and dignity was promoted, and people continued to be offered choices. People were encouraged to be independent.

People continued to receive responsive care. Staff knew people well and received care in their preferred way. Complaint procedures were in place and followed when needed. People participated in activities they enjoyed.

The service remained well led. Quality assurance systems were in place to identify where improvements could be made and when needed these changes were made. The provider notified us of significant events that occurred within the home. Feedback was sought from people who used the service.

More information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was Good (Published 24 October 2016.)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

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

The provider is registered with us to provide personal care and support for people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection three people received care and support from this service.

A registered manager was in post. 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 we spoke with told us that they felt safe with staff supporting them. Staff were able to tell us of the needs of the people they provided care for and their roles and responsibilities in keeping people safe. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse and were clear about the steps they would take if they suspected someone was unsafe.

People told us they could talk to staff and management if they had any concerns and they would be listened to. People said staff were available to them to meet their needs. Currently people did not require support with their medicines but staff had received training if this support was needed.

Staff said training helped them do their job and gave them the right skills to meet the needs of the people they supported. Specialist training was also available if required to support people’s needs.

People we spoke with were positive about the care that they received and told us staff were caring. Staff treated people with privacy and dignity. Staff respected people’s homes and belongings and people were supported to maintain their independence. Staff supported people to prepare meals and ensured people had a choice of meals and drinks.

People were involved in how their care and support was received. People were given choices and their wishes were respected by staff. Staff understood they could only care for and support people who consented to being cared for. People told us responded when they were unwell and that care staff arranged health appointments on their behalf if they asked.

People who used the service were able to raise concerns and the provider had a system to deal with any complaints. People were regularly asked if they were happy with the service provided. There were systems in place to ensure that people’s views and opinions were heard and their wishes acted upon.

People were positive about the care and support they received. The management team ensured regular checks were completed to monitor the quality of the care that people received and action had been taken where areas were identified for improvement.

We contacted the service prior to our inspection to agree a suitable time to inspect. We made these arrangements at short notice and to ensure that the registered manager was available and because we needed access to the information and records to help us to form a judgement about the service's compliance with the regulations we inspected against.

People told us they were happy with the support they received, we observed a good rapport between support staff and the people they provided a service to.

People had copies of their assessments and plans of care. Information they held was produced in formats that made it easier for them to understand, this may have been in a simple language, supported by photographs or pictures.

We found that robust recruitment procedures were in place and staff received the training and the support they needed to fulfill their role.

The service had systems in place for monitoring and improving the quality of service provided.