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CHS Homecare (Domiciliary Care Agency)

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Moorlands Court, The Moor, Melbourn, Hertfordshire, SG8 6FH (01763) 260564

Provided and run by:
Cambridge Housing Society Limited

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 6 December 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector and one Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service provides care and support to people living in specialist ‘extra care’ housing. Extra care housing is purpose-built or adapted single household accommodation in a shared site or building. The accommodation is the occupant’s own home. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for extra care housing; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support service. The service also provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 72 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service operates across different locations and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 07 October 2019 and ended on 18 October 2019. We visited the office location on 16 October 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to 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. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, a care and support manager, senior care worker, and two care workers. We sampled a range of records. These included four people’s care records. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits, compliments and complaints and training records.

We received feedback via email from one external social care professional during the inspection period.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 6 December 2019

About the service

CHS Homecare (Domiciliary Care Agency) is registered to provide personal care to people living in their flats within three extra care housing complexes and to people living in their own homes in the local community.

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

The provider had systems in place to manage risks and keep people safe from avoidable harm. Staff followed good practice guidelines to prevent the spread of infection and gave people their medicines safely.

Staff received training, supervision and support so that they could do their job well. Staff enjoyed working at CHS Homecare (Domiciliary Care Agency) and were proud to work there. Staff told us that they wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the service and would be happy to have a member of their family receiving the service.

People liked the staff that cared for them. Staff were kind and caring and made sure people’s privacy and dignity was respected.

People, and their relatives were involved in making decisions on the care they wanted. Their preference for how staff delivered their care was recorded in their care plans.

The service was well managed by a registered manager, and six care and support managers, two of whom were based in each of the three schemes. The senior staff team were passionate about giving people a high-quality service and ensuring that staff were support and skilled to deliver the service effectively.

Systems to monitor how well the service was running were carried out. Complaints and concerns were followed up to make sure action was taken to rectify the issue. People were asked their view of the service and action was taken to change any areas they were not happy with.

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 last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 25 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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