Archived: Abbey Care

Updated 25 January 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 28 November 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager and other staff were available to speak to us on the day of the inspection.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and one inspector manager.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including previous inspection reports, any notifications, (a notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law) and any complaints that we had received. The provider had submitted a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to the inspection. A PIR asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing relevant areas at the inspection.

We spoke to five people who use the service or their relatives. We interviewed six members of staff and spoke with the registered manager. We also asked two health and social care professionals for their views on the service. We looked at a range of documents including policies and procedures, care records for seven people and other documents such as safeguarding, incident and accident records, medication records and quality assurance information. We reviewed staff information including recruitment, supervision and training information as well as team meeting minutes and we looked at the providers systems for allocating care visits and other information systems.

The last inspection of 1 September 2014 identified no concerns.

Updated 25 January 2017

The inspection took place on 28 November 2016 and was announced.

Abbey Care is a family run, domiciliary care service providing support to 120 people living in their own homes. The service supports older people and people who are living with dementia or other conditions. It also supports younger people, people who are physically disabled or people living with mental health problems and some people with sensory impairments. The service aims to support people to continue living in their own homes. The service is based in Haywards Heath, and provides a service to people within the local area as well as in Burgess Hill, Cuckfield and Lindfield in West Sussex.

The registered manager has been in post since 2010 and has recently taken over the running of the business following the retirement of the previous owners. 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.

People were protected from harm and abuse as they were supported by staff who had undertaken the relevant training and who knew what to do if they had concerns about peoples’ safety. Risks had been assessed and managed to ensure peoples’ safety. People received their medicines safely from staff who were trained and assessed as being competent to administer medicines. There were enough staff to ensure that all visits were covered. People told us that they felt safe, one person told us, “It’s a reliable service and that makes me feel safe, knowing that they will always come.”

Staff were well supported and had access to the training they needed to carry out their role effectively. One care worker told us, “I just find that you get the support and back up here, there is always someone to support you.” Staff understood their responsibilities with regard to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People told us that staff always asked for their consent before providing care. One relative said, “They know what they have to do but they still ask, I hear them making sure before they start.” People were supported to have the food and drink they needed and to access health care services. A health care professional told us, “Abbey Care excel at providing feedback. They are very proactive. If they tell me someone had deteriorated and needs more support or a piece of equipment I know that is the case.”

Staff had developed caring relationships with people and treated them with dignity and respect. One person told us, “I can’t praise them enough really, they are all wonderful.” Staff knew the people they were caring for well and people told us they felt their views were listened to. Staff had a good understanding of the importance of maintaining people’s confidentiality and there were safe communication systems to support this.

People received a personalised service and their care plans reflected this. Staff told us that care plans were updated regularly to ensure they were accurate and to accommodate changes in needs. People were happy with the care provided and spoke of a flexible service. One person said, “If I need more time, then they stay longer, there is never an issue.” People knew how to make complaints and were confident that any concerns they raised were dealt with appropriately.

People and staff spoke highly of the management of Abbey Care and said that the service was well run. A health and social care professional told us, “Care providers that are as good as this are as rare as hen’s teeth. They are consistently good, proactive and very caring.” There were robust systems and processes in place to ensure that the quality of the service was monitored and maintained. Feedback from people, staff and health care professionals was collected and used to drive service improvements. Staff spoke of an open culture where they were able to get the support they needed at any time. One staff member said, “It’s a really, really, good company to work for. It’s like one big family. It’s the only company I have worked for that cares as much for the staff as they do for their clients.”

The registered manager and provider demonstrated that they were committed to the continuous development of the service.