Home Instead Senior Care Lancaster

Updated 3 September 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small, and people are often out, and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 11 August and ended on 17 August. We visited the location's office on 11 August and made telephone calls to clients, relatives and staff on the 17 August.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager, the client experience manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We spoke with the relatives of three people. We spoke with three care staff. We reviewed a range of records which included the care records of three people, the recruitment records of three staff, safeguarding and incident reports and records relating to the quality and governance of the service.

Updated 3 September 2022

Home Instead Senior Care Lancaster is a care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 31 people using the service. Not everyone who used the service received personal 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 13 people were in receipt of personal care.

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

People told us they felt safe as a result of the care they received from staff. The provider had recruited staff safely by following robust recruitment procedures. Staff supported people to keep safe because they followed the provider's risk assessments. People received their medicines as prescribed from staff whose competencies had been checked regularly.

People were confident staff knew about their needs and preferences because they were supported by the same staff the majority of the time. Staff had access to people's assessments and care plans which could be quickly updated electronically.

People received compassionate care from kind and caring staff. Staff were on time and stayed the full length of the planned visit. People praised the sensitivity of staff who ensured they felt comfortable during personal care.

People told us they thought the service was well managed and they could not think of anything that needed to improve. Staff felt valued and respected by the management team and were happy to work for the agency. Staff commented on how the values of the organisation really represented what high-quality care should be.

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.

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

Rating at the last inspection

This service was registered with us on 15 July 2021 and this was the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.