Right at Home - Camberley, Ascot and Woking

Updated 31 August 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Service and service type:

Right at Home - Camberley, Ascot and Woking is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to older people, including people living with dementia, and younger adults.

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.

We gave the service 48 hours notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Inspection site visit activity started and ended on 27 February 2019. We visited the office location on 27 February 2019 to see the registered manager and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the evidence we had about the service. This included any notifications of significant events, such as serious injuries or safeguarding referrals. Notifications are information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) submitted by the provider in May 2018. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we visited the agency’s office and spoke with the registered manager. We checked care records for four people, including their assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at four staff files and records of staff training and supervision. We also checked records including complaints, accident and incident records, quality monitoring checks and audits.

After the inspection, we spoke with four people who used the service and four relatives to hear their views about the care and support provided. We received feedback from four staff about the training and support they received from the agency to carry out their roles.

Updated 31 August 2019

Right at Home - Camberley, Ascot and Woking is a domiciliary care agency that was supporting 44 people at the time of the inspection, 28 of whom were receiving personal care. Most of the people using the service were older people although some were younger adults who needed support due to complex healthcare conditions or disability.

People’s experience of using this service:

The service was extremely responsive to people’s needs. The personalised support provided by the agency consistently enabled people to achieve positive outcomes, often exceeding their expectations. Staff had supported people to overcome social isolation and to make progress in their rehabilitation after injury. People had been encouraged and supported to rediscover interests they had not had opportunities to take part in for some years. Staff had attended specialist training to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to support people with complex healthcare conditions.

People highlighted the responsiveness and flexibility of the service as its greatest strengths. They told us the agency accommodated any requests to change their support arrangements, which enabled them to live their lives as they chose.

Relatives said the agency had supported people and their families if an emergency occurred. For example, the agency had immediately provided additional visits when people’s family carers had been unable to provide their care.

People and relatives told us that staff frequently went beyond what was expected of them in terms of the support they provided. For example, relatives told us that staff collected their family member’s shopping and laundry on their way to their care visits.

People’s care was provided by regular staff who understood their needs and preferences. Staff were kind and caring and had developed positive relationships with the people they supported. People were treated as individuals and their rights and wishes were respected. Staff treated people with respect and maintained their privacy and dignity when providing their care. People were encouraged and supported to maintain their independence.

People were involved in planning their care to ensure their care plans reflected their individual needs and preferences. Staff always received enough information about people’s needs and were introduced to people before they provided their care.

The agency had effective quality monitoring systems, which ensured that people received safe, consistent and well-planned care. Regular spot checks were carried out to observe staff practice. Staff competency in medicines management and moving and handling was observed and assessed regularly. Staff were well-supported and valued by the management team. All staff met regularly with their line managers for one-to-one supervision, which enabled them to discuss their performance.

People were encouraged to give their views about the care they received. The agency contacted people regularly to ask for feedback and were able to give their views in annual satisfaction surveys. People told us the agency had always responded to any requests they made for changes.

Staff monitored people’s health closely and reported any concerns promptly. Many relatives told us staff were good at identifying and reporting any changes to their family member’s health or well-being. Staff worked effectively with other professionals, such as GPs, district nurses and occupational therapists, to ensure people received the care they needed.

Potential risks to people and staff were identified and mitigated. Medicines were managed safely. Staff helped people keep their homes clean and maintained appropriate standards of infection control.

Staff were recruited safely. Checks were carried out to ensure staff were of good character and suitable to work in health and social care. Staff attended safeguarding training and understood their responsibilities to report any concerns they had about people’s safety or well-being.

The service met the characteristics of Good in four of the five domains and the characteristics of Outstanding in the Responsive domain; more information is in the full report.

Rating at last inspection:

The service was rated Good at the last inspection on 18 April 2016.

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on the rating awarded at the previous inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through notifications and communication with partner agencies such as local authorities and other commissioners. We will inspect the service again according to the rating achieved at this inspection unless we receive information of concern, in which case we may bring the next inspection forward.