Archived: Havering

Updated 14 January 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection took place on 8 December 2016 and was planned to check whether the provider was 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 under the Care Act 2014. It was an announced inspection, which meant the provider knew we would be visiting. This was because it was a domiciliary care agency and we wanted to make sure that the registered manager or someone who could act on their behalf would be available to support our inspection.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social inspector and an 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.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about this service. This included details of its registration and notifications the provider had sent us and safeguarding incidents. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. The provider had also completed a 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. We looked at the PIR during our planning of the inspection and also discussed it with the provider during the inspection. We contacted social care managers and the local authority with responsibility for commissioning care from the service to seek their views.

During the inspection we spoke with a support worker, the registered manager and the chief executive of the service. We also reviewed eight people’s files including care plans and risk assessments. We looked at seven staff files which detailed their recruitment, training and supervision records and we looked at the training matrix for all staff working at the service. We checked the provider’s quality assurance systems and reviewed various policies and procedures including the complaints, safeguarding adults and whistleblowing policies. After our inspection (on 12 December 2016), we spoke by telephone with 10 relatives and five care workers. People whom we randomly chose and contacted did not wish to speak with us.

Updated 14 January 2017

This announced inspection took place on 8 December 2016. This was the first inspection of the service since its re-registration as Havering under the provider, Redbridge, Epping and Harlow Crossroads - Caring for Carers.

Havering is a domiciliary care service based in London Borough of Havering. The service is registered to provide personal care for people in their own home. At the time of our inspection, the service provided a service to 200 people, who received personal care and support in their own homes.

The service had 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 care homes, 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.

There was a good management structure in place with clear vision and objectives to ensure the service was run effectively. Various regular auditing systems helped the service to identify areas that worked smoothly and that needed improvement. The recruitment of relatives (carers) as board trustees allowed them to be involved in meetings at a senior level and to influence how the service was run.

People’s care plans were based on their needs. We noted that each person had a risk assessment which identified possible risks and how they could be managed. Most of the people did not require support with medicines. However, we noted that there were appropriate systems in place to ensure that medicines were safely administered and recorded for those who needed staff support.

Staff told us they were well supported by their managers and they liked their job. We noted they had had an understanding of people's needs and demonstrated that they had good knowledge of adult safeguarding to ensure people were protected from abuse. Records showed that staff had access to various training programmes including a comprehensive induction programme when they started work at the service.

The service had a robust staff recruitment process in place to ensure new staff were checked and were suitable to support people. There were enough staff to support the people using the service.

People were able to make decisions about their care. Staff told us they respected people’s wishes and treated them with respect and dignity. We noted staff had work experience of supporting people and had attended various training programmes including Mental Capacity Act (2005). The service had a complaints procedure in place and people and their relatives could be confident that their concerns would be taken seriously by and investigated by the registered manager.