Fourways Care

Updated 25 April 2018

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 15 and 19 March 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice of the inspection as they needed to be available during the inspection.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors 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. Our expert-by-experience had personal experience of caring for an older person.

Before the inspection we looked at previous inspection reports and notifications received by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

During our inspection, we spoke with the provider/registered manager, and a senior manager.

We spoke on the telephone with eight staff who provided personal care to people. We spoke with 16 people who used the service, and three relatives of people who received personal care.

We also reviewed a range of documents and records. These included three people’s care records and four staff recruitment files.

We looked at records relating to the management of the service, such as staff visit plans and training programmes; staff supervision records, incident forms audits and medicines records. We also looked at a number of policies and procedures for the service.

Updated 25 April 2018

The office is located in Coalpit Heath. The services provided include companionship services, home help services and personal care. People can receive one visit or continued visits and overnight support can be provided. The service provides support for older people, some who are living with dementia, as well as people with physical or learning disabilities. The service is a privately owned company and the providers were involved in the day to day management of the service.

At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 70 people.

There was a registered manager for the service, who was also the registered provider. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. We refer to the provider and registered manager as the registered manager throughout this report.

People remained safe in their homes. Staff and the office team knew how to keep people safe from abuse and avoidable harm. People were protected by detailed risk assessments in place. The provider managed risks associated with people's homes, to help them and staff stay safe. Recruitment practices remained safe. Medicines management continued to be carried out safely. Checks confirmed that people were receiving their medicines when needed.

Staff were providing support in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs. Staff also supported people to access the support of a range of healthcare professionals.

People and relatives told us staff were caring, kind and supportive. People also said staff respected their privacy and treated them with dignity. People's needs were assessed before they started to use the service and care was planned and delivered in response to their needs.

People were supported with their needs by a team of staff with a very in-depth knowledge of how to support people with their needs. Staff were supported to use innovative approaches to deliver personalised and very flexible care.

People were actively encouraged to be involved in all aspects of their care and support was planned. The service was run in a very flexible way and responded quickly to people's changing needs or wishes.

People were fully involved in deciding how they wanted to be cared for and supported. This process began from the first meeting with the registered manager or a senior member of staff. Care plans were written in a person centred way and reflected how people wanted to be supported with their range of needs. People’s care plans set out their full range of care needs and were updated after care reviews and when people’s circumstances changed.

People felt very able to raise concerns or make a complaint. The provider took concerns and complaints seriously. People's views and opinions were sought. Feedback was used to drive improvements.

There were systems for staff training and supervision. These systems continued to help ensure people received the care they needed in a safe way and to a high standard. All staff completed full induction training and they worked alongside experienced staff when they first started work. Staff had their competency assessed. This was to make sure they were safe before could be allowed to work on their own.

Staff we spoke with felt that the management was very open, approachable, and positive. They said that the registered manager who was one of the provider’s was easy to get on with. Systems were in place to check and improve the quality of the service.

People who used the service, relatives and healthcare professionals we spoke with all gave us very high praise of the leadership of the service. The registered manager and staff we spoke with understood the values of the service. Staff were passionate and committed to their work and to caring for people.