Archived: Bronte Care Services Limited

Updated 26 January 2016

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 carried out 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.

The inspection was carried by one inspector. On the first day of inspection we visited the office premises and spoke with the registered manager and the staff in the office who helped run the service. We also looked at eight people’s support plans and risk assessments and other records relating to the management of the service such as training records, staff recruitment records, quality assurance audits and policies and procedures.

In a two week period following the inspection we also spoke with fourteen people who used the service and ten staff by telephone to ask them about their views and opinions of the service provided.

As part of the inspection process we also reviewed the information we held about the service. This included information from the provider, notifications and speaking with representatives from the local authority contracts and commissioning service in both Bradford and Leeds. There were a number of issues identified around medication not being administered, some calls not taking place at the correct times and emplying staff without correct checks. These were looked at in detail during our inspection.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the home. This included a review of the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

Updated 26 January 2016

Bronte Care Services is a home care provider offering care and support services to people within their own homes and in their local community. Their head office is situated in the town of Bingley.

We inspected the main offices of Bronte Care Services Limited on the 27th and 28th October 2015, and spoke with people who used the service during the week commencing 2nd November 2015. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service. Our last inspection of the service took place in July 2014 and at that time we found the

agency needed improvement in medicines and record keeping.

There was a registered manager 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.

The registered manager has recently returned from a six month period of sickness and was now back to take charge of the running of the service. There had been some concerns about how the service was run whilst she was on sick leave. There had been two people running the office and had made changes to the call times of people.

The registered manager had implemented a number of changes to the way the the service was run and this appeared to have made a significant improvement. The registered manager had allocated more specific roles to each of the office staff and made changes to the visits for staff to allow more time to carry out their calls.

The organisation’s staff recruitment and selection procedures were robust which helped to ensure people were supported by staff suitable to work in the caring profession. In addition, all the staff we spoke with were aware of signs and symptoms which may indicate people were possibly being abused and the action they needed to take.

The registered manager told us that sufficient care staff were employed for operational purposes. However, the registered manager told us that they were experiencing some difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, therefore staff recruitment was ongoing.

The staff training matrix was up to date and we saw one to one supervision meetings took place to support staff to carry out their roles effectively.

We saw the agency had reviewed their policies and procedures in June 2015 and introduced a new care planning system and that care plans were person centred and were reviewed on a regular basis to make sure they provided accurate and up to date information and were fit for purpose. Staff from the office would also do spot checks and speak with service users and relatives to ensure they were happy with the care planning process.

The staff we spoke with were able to describe how individual people preferred their care and support to be delivered and the importance of treating people with respect in their own homes. People who used the service and their relatives told us staff were very caring and always provided care and support in line with their agreed support plan.

The provider had policies and procedures relating to the safe administration of medication in people's own homes which gave guidance to staff on their roles and responsibilities. Wefound that improvements had been made to the way medicines were managed. People received their medicines when they needed them and in a safe way. We found that medicines were recorded in an appropriate manner.

There was a complaints procedure available which enabled people to raise any concerns or complaints about the care or treatment they received. The majority of people we spoke with told us they were aware of the complaints procedure and would have no hesitation in making a formal complaint if they had any concerns about the standard of care provided.

There was a quality assurance monitoring system in place that continually monitored and identified shortfalls in service provision. Audit results were analysed for themes and trends and there was evidence that learning from incidents/investigations took place and appropriatechanges were made to procedures or work practices if required.