Archived: Granby at Home

Updated 23 March 2016

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.

The inspection was carried out on 1 and 2 February 2016. This inspection was announced as we gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection in order to ensure people we needed to speak with were available. The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Before the inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service, which included notifications submitted by the provider. We spoke with the local authority contracts and safeguarding teams and with Healthwatch. Heathwatch represents the views of local people in how their health and social care services are provided.

Before we visited we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We asked for and received a list of names of people who received personal care services so that we could contact them and seek their views.

During our visit to the agency we spoke with the registered manager and three members of staff. We spoke with four people who used the service over the telephone. We received further feedback via email from three members of staff. We reviewed the records for four people who used the service. We looked at three staff files to review recruitment and training records. We checked management records including staff meeting minutes, quality assurance visits, annual surveys, the staff handbook and the Statement of Purpose. We also looked at a sample of policies and procedures including the complaints policy and the medicines policy.

Updated 23 March 2016

The inspection was carried out on 1 and 2 February 2016. This inspection was announced as we gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection in order to ensure people we needed to speak with were available.

At our last inspection on 26 November 2013 the provider was meeting the regulations that were assessed.

Granby at Home provides care and support to people who live in their own homes in the Harrogate area and in the assisted living service Granby Gardens. The agency’s office is situated in Granby Gardens. The service is registered to provide the regulated activity personal care. The agency is part of the Brighterkind group.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.’

The feedback we received from people who used the service was very positive. We received no negative comments. People told us they had confidence in the staff and they felt safe in the way staff supported them.

Any risks to people had been assessed and plans put in place to reduce those risks whilst maintaining people’s independence. Risks were assessed in relation to staff safely carrying out their roles. All risk assessments were reviewed regularly to make sure they continued to be appropriate. Any accidents and incidents were reported and there were systems in place to support staff should an emergency occur.

Appropriate checks were made as part of the service’s recruitment process. These checks were undertaken to make sure staff were suitable to work with people who used the service. The service provided a training programme for staff to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to support people. This included a comprehensive induction and training at the beginning of their employment, and all mandatory health and safety training.

We saw systems were in place to provide staff support. Staff participated in staff meetings, and one to one supervision meetings with their supervisor and completed an annual appraisal. The agency had a whistleblowing policy, which was available to staff. Staff told us they would feel confident using it and that the appropriate action would be taken.

Policies and procedures were in place covering the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), which aims to protect people who may not have the capacity to make decisions for themselves. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets out what must be done to make sure that the human rights of people who may lack mental capacity to make decisions are protected, including balancing autonomy and protection in relation to consent or refusal of care or treatment. Staff had received training in this subject.

Where people needed assistance taking their medicine this was administered by staff that had been trained to carry out this role. Staff liaised with healthcare professionals at the appropriate time to help monitor and maintain people’s health and wellbeing.

People told us they were included in discussions about how their support was provided. They told us they were introduced to staff prior to them providing support and described staff from the agency as kind and considerate. People told us that they were treated with dignity and respect.

People’s care plans were detailed and reflected individual choice. The registered manager reviewed people’s care packages with them regularly to ensure people’s care needs were met and this was recorded, up to date and accurate. Staff told us they felt well informed about people’s needs and how to meet them.

People said they were confident in raising concerns. Each person was given a copy of the agency’s complaints procedures.

The provider had systems in place to enable people to share their opinion of the service provided and to check staff were performing their role satisfactorily.

Staff we spoke with told us how much they enjoyed working at the agency and were committed to providing an excellent service for people. Systems and processes were in place to monitor the service and drive forward improvements.