Archived: Favor Care Agency

The provider registered this service with us to provide personal care and support for people with a range of varying needs including learning disabilities, who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection six people received support with personal care.

There was a registered manager for this service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered providers and registered managers 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.

We inspected the service in July 2016. We found improvement was needed to ensure people’s needs were assessed and risks recognised to ensure staff had clear guidance to follow. We found at this inspection that people had their risks assessed and staff were aware of how to keep people safe. We also found the service was not consistently well-led. The registered manager did not have an effective system to consistently monitor the quality and safety of the care provided. At this inspection we found the registered manager had improved systems to monitor the quality of care provided

People we spoke with said they had support from staff who knew them well. Staff we spoke with recognised the different types of abuse. There were systems in place to guide them in reporting any concerns. Staff were knowledgeable about how to manage people’s individual risks, and were able to respond to people’s needs. People were supported to receive their medicines when needed by trained staff who knew the risks associated with them.

Staff had up to date knowledge and training to support people with their care needs. People were supported to eat and drink well when identified as part of their support needs. People we spoke with told us they were supported to make their own decisions and felt listened to by staff. Staff always ensured people gave their consent to the support they received. People told us staff would support them to access health professionals when they need to. Relatives said there was good communication between themselves, staff and healthcare professionals.

People and their relatives said staff and the registered manager were caring and kind. People said they were treated with dignity and respect, and encouraged to be as independent as possible. People said they were involved in making choices about how they were supported. Relatives told us they were involved as part of the team to support their family member. The registered manager was adaptable to changes in people’s care needs and communicated those changes to staff.

People and their relatives knew how to raise complaints and the registered manager had arrangements in place to ensure people were listened to and appropriate action taken. People and staff said the management team were accessible and supportive to them.

The registered manager monitored the quality of the service by completing regular spot checks and talking to people and their relatives. The registered manager ensured there was a culture of openness for people using the service and staff.

The provider registered this service with us to provide personal care and support for people with a range of varying needs including learning disabilities, who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection eight people received support with personal care.

There was a registered manager for this service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered providers and registered managers 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 said they were well supported by the staff and the registered manager. They told us staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect. People were supported to eat and drink well, when identified as part of their care planning. Relatives told us they were involved as part of the team to support their family member. People and their relatives told us staff would access health professionals as soon as they were needed and support people to attend appointments. People were supported to receive their medicines by staff that were trained and knew about the risks associated with them.

Staff had up to date knowledge and training to support people. Staff always ensured people gave their consent to the support they received. Staff really knew people well, and took people’s preferences into account and respected them. Staff supported people to make decisions when needed, involving family and professionals when appropriate. Staff we spoke with recognised the different types of abuse. There were systems in place to guide staff in reporting any concerns.

People and their relatives knew how to raise complaints and the management team had arrangements in place to ensure people were listened to and appropriate action taken. Staff had regular access to the registered manager to share their views and concerns about the quality of the service. People and staff said the management team were accessible and supportive to them.

The registered manager did not consistently action updates from staff about people’s changes in needs to ensure accurate guidance was available for staff to support people.The registered manager did not have systems in place to consistently identify improvements and action them in a timely way. The system for monitoring the quality and safety of the care provided had not been completed consistently to ensure improvements were made.

We looked at three people's care records and other supporting documents for the agency. We spoke with people who used the agency and a relative on the telephone. We spoke with staff and we spent some time with the registered manager at the agency office.

Consent had been obtained from people before care and treatment had been provided. Alternative arrangements had been made to support people when people had been unable to consent to their treatment or support.

People spoke positively about staff and said they felt fully supported by the staff. People told us that they were: "Well looked after" and that staff were: "Caring and helpful".

Staff told us they were aware of each person's needs and how to give care and support to meet those needs. People told us that: 'Staff know all about my needs and how to support me'. 'Staff help me to live independently and that's what I like'.

Arrangements were in place to monitor the standards of care and support that people received. People told us they were: 'Asked for my views about my support'. People told us they had no concerns and would not hesitate to speak with the registered manager: 'She is the boss and she will sort things for me'.

Everyone spoke positively about their care workers and that they felt fully supported. Without exception people said that all of their care workers spoke with them in a calm and respectful way.

People spoken with told us that their care was personalised to suit their preferences. They told us they were happy with the standards of care they received. A relative said, "X has a very good relationship with them and looks forward to them coming.' A person told us, 'I have no complaints at all.'

We found that the care files did not include enough staff guidance about people's needs and safety.

People told us told us they felt safe with the care workers who visited them. Staff we spoke with demonstrated that they would take appropriate action if they had concerns about people's safety. We found that one care worker had not received training in safeguarding.

The registered provider had made arrangements to monitor the standards of care and support that people received.