Leighton House

Updated 17 April 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. 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.

Inspection team: This inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Service and service type: Leighton House is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes and when accessing the community. Not everyone using Leighton House received a regulated activity; the Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection, 10 people were receiving personal care.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 18 March 2019 and ended on 19 March 2019. We visited the office location on 18 March 2019 to see the registered manager and to review care records and policies and procedures. We made calls to people using the service and relatives on 19 March 2019.

What we did: We reviewed information we had received about the service, this included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as a serious injury, for example; and we sought feedback from the local authority and a professional who worked with the service. We contacted the local authority safeguarding and commissioning teams to gather information about the service. They raised no concerns about the care and support people received from Leighton House. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During our inspection we spoke with five members of care staff, one person using the service, and two relatives.

We reviewed a range of records. This included care records, information relating to staff recruitment and supervision and the training records for all staff. We also reviewed records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.

Updated 17 April 2019

About the service: Leighton House provides personal care within people’s homes and when they access the community, to ten adults who have an acquired brain injury.

People’s experience of using this service: People and staff were complimentary of the service. People were asked for feedback on their experience of the service through surveys and telephone calls. Staff felt supported, listened to and able to contribute to the running of the service. A number of quality audits were in place and the provider and the registered manager had plans in place to drive improvement in the service.

Staff were professional and competent; people and relatives said the service was safe. Staff demonstrated a good awareness of each person's safety and how to minimise risks for them.

Staffing arrangements were consistent and reliable.

Staffing levels were safe, and people and relatives told us they received consistent support from the same carers.

Staff were recruited safely and the appropriate pre-employment checks were in place.

Staff were given an induction and training suitable to their job role. Staff told us they were given time to get to know people as part of their induction. People and relatives felt this was good practice as staff got to know the people they were supporting on a personal level.

People’s calls were on time or staff called if they were going to be late. The provider monitored care staff attendance at calls using electronic call monitoring.

The provider arranged training for staff that met the needs of people using the service. They were assessed for their competency which helped to ensure they were safe to work with people.

The service worked in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and staff had a clear understanding of how to support people with fluctuating capacity and giving support with decision making.

Feedback from relatives and staff was that the service was well-led. They told us the management team was always available to speak with.

People told us they would feel confident to raise any complaints they might have. We saw complaints were identified, investigated and used to improve the service.

Rating at last inspection: The service was last rated as Good (2 February 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

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