Archived: Total Home Care Solutions Peterborough

Below is a summary of what we found. The summary describes what people using the service, relatives and staff told us, what we observed and the records we looked at.

If you want to see the evidence supporting our summary, please read the full report.

We spoke with four people who used the service and one relative. We also spoke with the manager, the provider's quality and compliance manager and four other members of staff. We looked at written records, which included copies of people's care records held in the office, staff personnel files and quality assurance documentation.

Is the service safe?

We saw that care plans and risk assessments were informative and up to date. Staff we spoke with were familiar with their contents, which enabled them to deliver appropriate and safe care. People who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent it from happening.

People were protected by safe and effective recruitment practices. People were cared for by staff who were properly trained and supported to develop professionally.

Is the service effective?

People we spoke with were satisfied with the care and support they received and were complimentary about the care workers. This was consistent with mostly positive feedback reported in the provider's own annual quality assurance survey. People were given information and support to help them understand the care and support available to them.

Is the service caring?

We spoke with four people who used the service and one relative. One person said to us, "I am very satisfied. The current management team are the best the agency has had. I always get my roster of support in good time and they always let me know if there are any changes." Another person said, "My carers are very nice and I can have a laugh and a joke with them. They always follow the care plans and listen to what I want."

Is the service responsive?

People were consulted about and involved in their own care planning and the provider acted in accordance with their wishes. Care plans and risk assessments were regularly reviewed.

Two people who used the service and four staff members told us that the manager was approachable and they would have no difficulty speaking to them if they had any concerns about the service. The provider took account of complaints and comments to improve the service.

Is the service well led?

Staff said that they felt well supported by the manager and they were able do their jobs safely. The manager had a range of quality monitoring systems in place to ensure that care was being delivered appropriately by staff, that the service was continuously improving and that people were satisfied with the service they were receiving.

At this inspection of 19 November 2013 we found that the provider had made improvements in the safe administration of people's medication. Audits and spot checks had been used to improve the quality and accuracy of recording people's medicines. People were only administered their medicines where members of staff's competency to do this safely had been effectively assessed.

People were only provided with care and support that they agreed to. All of the plans of care we reviewed had been signed by the person who used the service. People were assured that they would only be provided with personal care and support that they had provided a valid agreement to.

People's plans of care were centred upon the person. Information contained within these plans provided staff with detailed and clear guidance about how each person needed to be cared for and in a way the person like to be care for. People were able to choose a male or female carer if they preferred.

Although staff had completed people's daily care notes we could not be certain from the medicines administration records (MAR) we reviewed that people were safely administered their prescribed medication at the correct time. Training records we saw evidenced that the majority of staff had completed medicines administration training.

People were provided with the opportunity to provide comment and feedback about the quality of care and support that they had been provided with. People we spoke with told us that they were happy with the quality of their carers and the care they provided.

We looked at five people's care records and found that the care and support needs of people who used the service were identified at a very early stage in their care provision. This formed the basis of people's care and support plan.

People also told us, "The staff are brilliant; they never rush me and they take time to sit down and talk me through the care they are providing."

People were protected from abuse as the staff received regular and up-to-date safeguarding training that was in line with the local authority's.

People were provided with care by staff who had been employed with the service after satisfactory completion of identity, Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) and previous employment history checks.

People could be confident that complaints were acknowledged, investigated and improvement actions implemented where required.