Archived: Synergy Homecare - Bradford

Synergy Homecare - Bradford is a domiciliary care service providing care and support to people in their own homes. The service was providing personal care to 100 people at the time of the inspection.

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 felt safe and confident in the care and support they received, and staff knew what to do if they thought someone was at risk. There were systems in place to monitor quality and safety and equip the provider with an overview of performance.

Risks to people’s health and welfare were assessed and plans put in place to minimise potential risks.

Staff were recruited safely and followed a comprehensive induction and training programme. Training was managed within the service and was responsive to people’s needs.

All the people were spoke with were complimentary of the care and support they or their relative received. People said they trusted the service and commented very positively about the reliability, consistency and caring approach of staff.

People’s needs were assessed before they started using the service and were reviewed regularly to make sure care plans reflected current and changing needs. People, and where appropriate, their families were fully involved in this process. This included assessment of people’s communication and diverse needs.

Care plans were person-centred, promoted independence and included information about what was important to the person and their preferences in the way they received care.

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.

Staff were responsive to people’s health needs and liaised with healthcare professionals as needed. People who used the service and their family members told us staff were very vigilant about spotting when a person was not well, or their condition was deteriorating and took immediate action to address this.

People were supported to make sure their nutritional needs were met in a way that met their needs and preferences.

People who used the service, their family members and staff gave very positive feedback about the management of the service. People said their views were sought and the management team were responsive and took responsibility, and immediate action when things went wrong.

People said they would recommend the service to others.

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 inspection was good (published August 2017) The service remains good.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information, we may inspect sooner

Synergy Homecare - Bradford is a large domiciliary care agency which provides care services to people in their own homes. On the day of our visit 164 people were receiving personal care from the service.

There was 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 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.

Staff had a good understanding of how to safeguard adults from abuse, having completed training in the subject. They were able to describe various types of abuse, and knew how to report any concerns they had about people’s safety.

There was a robust recruitment process to ensure that all staff employed were suitable to care for vulnerable people. Staff received a thorough induction, shadowed existing staff and undertook additional qualifications such as 'The Care Certificate, which gave them the knowledge and skills to care for service users. Staff received supervision, and the quality of their care was monitored through 'spot checks' by senior staff.

People spoke positively about the caring nature of the staff, and described them as being friendly, kind and caring. Staff understood about the need to respect privacy and dignity and could describe ways they would do this. The service was acting within the legal framework of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and people who used the service said carers asked their consent before undertaking personal care and offered them choices.

People told us they received care and support from a regular group of carers who were familiar with their needs. Staff were organised into small teams to improve consistency.

People had their needs assessed before they started using the service and the information gathered was used to develop a personalised care plan which enabled staff to care for them in a way appropriate to their individual needs. Support plans were reviewed annually or more frequently if needed.

Staff were positive about the company, the registered manager and senior staff. They felt they were supportive and approachable and that they could easily raise any concerns with them.

There was a complaints procedure available which enabled people to raise any concerns or complaints about the care or support they received.

There was a quality assurance monitoring system in place that was designed to continually monitor and identify any shortfalls in service provision.