Archived: Age UK Bexley

Updated 23 November 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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expect 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.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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 a short notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection and to gain consent from people to be contacted for their views about the service.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We contacted health and social care professionals for feedback about 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 13 people who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care and support provided. We spoke with three members of staff including the registered manager, a nail cutting coordinator and a nail care assistant.

We reviewed a range of records. These included care plans and risk management plans for ten people. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at various records used in the management of the service including policies and procedures, audits and minutes of meetings.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at results of a survey.

Updated 23 November 2019

Age UK Bexley is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The service supports older people, including some living with dementia to care for their feet by cutting their nails and providing other non-evasive foot care procedures. At the time of this inspection, 139 people were using the service.

People’s experience of using this service

People and their relatives were complimentary about the care and support provided. They said the service was well organised and staff were kind and gentle. People said they felt safe using the service and staff followed appropriate infection control procedures to reduce or prevent the risk of infections. Risks to people had been assessed, identified and had appropriate management plans in place to minimise the risk of harm. People said they had regular staff who arrived on time and they did not feel the treatment was rushed. The service followed appropriate recruitment processes to ensure people remained safe. The service had policies and procedures in place to report and record accidents and incidents.

Before people started using the service, their needs were assessed to ensure they could be met. 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. Staff were supported through induction, training and supervision.

People were involved in making decisions about their care and support needs and were provided with choice. Staff understood people’s diverse needs and supported them in a caring way. People’s privacy and dignity was respected, and their independence promoted.

People received care and support that met their needs. People’s communication needs had been assessed and met. People and their relatives knew how to make a complaint if they were unhappy.

The service had an effective system in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service and worked in partnership with key organisations to plan and deliver an effective service. People and their relatives' views had been sought to improve the quality of care and support provided

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 27 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.