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Support at Home Ltd

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Unit 14, Turnstone Business Park, Mulberry Avenue, Widnes, WA8 0WN (0151) 486 8494

Provided and run by:
Support at Home Ltd

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 13 August 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

This inspection was conducted by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

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 period of notice for the inspection because we needed to give people the opportunity to meet with the inspector in their own homes.

Inspection activity started on 30 July 2019 and ended on 1 August 2019. We visited the office location on 30 July 2019.

What we did before 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. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the assistant care manager, a scheduler and three care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 13 August 2019

About the service

Support at Home is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 75 people were receiving care.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

People were well protected from the risk of abuse or neglect and told us the service helped them to feel safe. Staff had completed training in adult safeguarding and were aware of their responsibilities to report any concerns. Risk was assessed as part of the management of the service and effective measures had been taken to reduce risk and maintain people’s independence. Safe recruitment practices were used to ensure that new staff were suited to working with vulnerable people. Appropriate checks were completed before new staff started work. There were a small number of minor medicines’ errors in the previous 12 months. Each error had been reported and addressed in accordance with best-practice. Staff recorded incidents and accidents in sufficient detail to aid analysis and reduce risk. Senior staff provided examples where they had used information effectively to improve practice.

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. People were supported to maintain a healthy diet in accordance with their needs and preferences. Support at Home worked well with other agencies to provide care which had a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing. When people were unwell staff acted promptly to ensure that they received appropriate care and treatment. People were involved in discussions about their care and their outcomes were good. Staff were given an induction in accordance with recognised standards for care staff. Staff were also given regular additional training to improve their skills and knowledge. Staff told us that they felt well supported.

People and their relatives spoke very positively about the caring nature of staff. They told us that they were always treated well by staff and were consulted about their care. Staff were clear about their responsibilities in relation to equality and diversity and supported people appropriately. People were encouraged to comment on the provision of care and were actively involved in the decision-making process through discussions with staff and regular meetings. Important decisions were recorded in care records and reviewed. Staff explained how they supported people with their personal care needs in a discrete and sensitive manner.

We saw evidence that people’s individual needs and preferences were consistently considered as part of the care planning process. We also saw that needs and preferences were reflected in the way care was provided. Staff understood the need for effective communication and met the requirements of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS). Important information was made available in a range of accessible formats to help people understand and to promote their involvement. Support at Home was primarily commissioned to provide personal care. However, we saw numerous examples of staff supporting people to engage in a meaningful and appropriate activities. The service dealt with complaints in accordance with their own policy and best-practice guidance. We were told how the service had responded positively when concerns were shared. The service did not routinely support people receiving end of life care. However, people’s end of life wishes were recorded in their care files.

On the first day of the inspection the assistant care manager represented the management team in the absence of the registered manager. It was clear they understood their responsibility to submit notifications regarding important events. Each of the staff we spoke with understood their role and responsibilities. Throughout the inspection the comments and behaviours of the assistant care manager and other senior staff consistently reflected their commitment to a genuinely person-centred service. It was clear that this had resulted in positive outcomes for people. Information provided after the site visit by the registered manager and human resource manager supported this view. Staff told us that they would not hesitate to inform senior staff of a concern or error. We saw evidence errors and performance issues had been recorded, reported and addressed appropriately. The service placed continuous learning and improvement at the heart of practice. They made effective use of audits, reports and other forms of communication to monitor and improve the safety and quality of care. Additional partnerships had been developed with other services in the area to improve outcomes for people.

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 17 February 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