25 July 2017
During a routine inspection
Abicare Services Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 17 people receiving a service. The service has a small staff team of eight. The staff team consists of the registered manager, the team manager and six care workers.
The service had a registered manager as required. 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. The registered manager was present and assisted us during the inspection.
People were protected from risks to their health and wellbeing and were protected from the risk of abuse. Safe recruitment practices were followed before new staff were employed to work with people. Checks were made to ensure staff were of good character and suitable for their role.
Staff received training and supervision to enable them to do their jobs safely and to a good standard. We have made a recommendation about ongoing staff training.
People were treated with respect and their privacy and dignity was promoted. People said their care workers were kind and caring. Staff were responsive to the needs of the people they supported and enabled them to maintain their independence as much as possible.
People's rights to make their own decisions were protected. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People received support that was individualised to their specific needs and reflected their likes, dislikes and preferences. People's equality and diversity needs were identified and incorporated into their care plans. Their needs were monitored and care plans reviewed regularly or as changes occurred. People's health and well-being was assessed with measures put in place to ensure people's needs were met in a person centred way.
Medicines were managed well and staff handling medicines were only allowed to do so after completing their training and being assessed as competent. Where included in their care package, people were supported to eat and drink enough.
People benefitted from receiving a service that was managed well. Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor the quality of the care and support being delivered and the running of the service.