Background to this inspection
Updated
3 June 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 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 announced inspection took place on 26 April 2016 and was undertaken by one inspector and one 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. The provider was given 48 hours’ advance notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to ensure that staff were available to meet with us. This meant the provider and staff knew we would be visiting the agency’s office before we arrived.
Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held about Choice Homecare Ltd including notifications we had received. Notifications are information about important events the provider is required to tell us about by law. We used this information in the planning of the inspection.
During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager and care coordinator. We reviewed documents relating to people’s care and support. We read eight people’s care records, risk assessments and medicines administration records. We looked at documents relating to staff and management. We read five staff files which included pre-employment checks, training records and supervision notes.
We read the provider’s quality assurance information and audits. We looked at complaints and compliments from people and their relatives.
Following the inspection we spoke with two people, three relatives and three staff. We also contacted five health and social care professionals for their feedback.
Updated
3 June 2016
This announced inspection took place on 26 April 2016.
Choice Homecare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and live-in staff to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection the service was providing support to 13 people. The service had a registered manager. 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 receiving a service were safe. Staff understood their responsibilities to recognise and report abuse because they had received safeguarding training and followed the provider’s safeguarding policy. People had detailed risk assessments in place to protect them from avoidable harm. People received their medicines safely and the provider operated a recruitment and selection process that ensured people were safe to work with potentially vulnerable adults.
People received care and support effectively delivered by staff who had on-going training and who were supervised by the registered manager. Staff and the registered manager understood and upheld people’s rights in relation to mental capacity legislation. People had access to healthcare services as and when they needed them and their nutritional and hydration needs were met.
People were treated with respect and dignity by staff who were caring. People were pain free and treated with compassion as they approached the end of life.
People received personalised care following an assessment of their needs. People were involved in developing their care plans and enabled to engage in activities they chose. The provider gathered the views of people and their relatives and used these to improve the service.
The service was well-led by an experienced registered manager. The service collaborated with healthcare professionals to meet people’s needs and made timely referrals to specialists for their input. There service used a number of quality auditing processes to continuously improve the service they delivered.