Archived: Friends Care Agency Limited

Friends Care Limited is a domiciliary care service. It provides care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, 23 people were being supported with a regulated activity of personal 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:

People were positive about the care they received and about the staff who cared for them. People told us they felt safe receiving support and felt the staff had the right skills and abilities to provide effective support.

People were safe because potential risks to their health and wellbeing were assessed and measures put in place to mitigate risks. There were enough staff to support people safely. People were supported to take their medicines. People were protected from harm by staff who were confident in recognising and reporting concerns. Staff followed effective hygiene processes to prevent the spread of infections.

People were involved in the development and review of their care and had signed a written consent confirming this. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and encourage independence. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff felt they were well supported by the registered manager and demonstrated they had a good knowledge about various topics relevant to their day to day work. Staff attended team meetings and had individual supervision with their line managers.

People knew how to make a complaint or raise a concern if they needed to. Positive feedback was also documented. The service was flexible and responsive to people’s changing needs.

There were a range of quality monitoring processes and audits in place to ensure quality checks were carried out in a timely way and were effective in driving improvements. People were asked for feedback and information from surveys used effectively to improve the service. There was evidence of effective engagement with people, staff and other professionals involved in people’s care.

Staff had the right skills and knowledge to meet people's needs effectively. People had been supported to have enough to eat and drink. People had access to a range of healthcare professionals and services when required. This helped people to maintain their health and well-being.

Staff supported people in a way that respected and promoted their privacy and dignity.

People were happy with how staff supported them and the overall management of the service. They told us that staff were kind and caring.

The service encouraged community events to reduce the risk of isolation. Complaints were managed effectively, and any learning was shared to help reduce the risk of recurrence. The service was not supporting anyone with end of life support at the time of the inspection but could do so if required.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was Good (published 12 October 2016).

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Friends Care Agency provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service provided care to 27 people.

The service has a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.

During our inspection we found that people told us that they felt safe using the service. Most care calls were made on time and if there were to be delays people were informed of this. People had regular care staff wherever possible which had enabled them to build positive relationships with the staff that supported them. Staff were aware of the safeguarding process. Personalised risk assessments were in place to reduce the risk of harm to people and these were reviewed regularly.

The number of people to whom care was provided was restricted to the number that the staff employed were able to care for. The registered manager had refused to increase the number of people who used the service until they had sufficient trained staff in post to provide the care needed. Robust recruitment and selection processes were in place and the provider had taken steps to ensure that staff were suitable to work with people who used the service. Staff were trained and supported by way of regular supervision and review of their experience and competency.

People and relatives had been involved in determining their support needs and the way in which the support was to be provided. Their consent was gained before any support was provided and the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 were met. People and their relatives were involved in the regular review of people’s support needs.

Information about the service and the complaints policy was available in folders held in people’s homes. The complaints policy was effective and complaints had been investigated appropriately.

People, their relatives and staff were able to make suggestions as to how the service was provided and developed. Staff worked as a team to provide the required support to people who used the service. An effective quality assurance system was in place with checks of both documentation and working practice being undertaken.