Archived: Home Care Leicestershire South

Updated 12 August 2015

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 by two inspectors.

We spoke by telephone with people who used the service and relatives of other people who used the service.

Before our inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service, which included notifications. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the registered provider must inform CQC about. We contacted the Local Authority contract monitoring team, responsible for funding people’s care at the service and asked them for their views about the service.

We spoke with eight people who used the service and two relatives of other people who used the service. We also spoke with the registered manager, the deputy manager, and eight care staff.

We reviewed records held at the agency office. These included six people’s care records, staff personal records and other records which related to the management of the service such as quality assurance and policies and procedures.

Updated 12 August 2015

We inspected Home Care Leicestershire South on 3 and 5 June 2015. The inspection was unannounced. Home Care Leicestershire South provides personal care services to people in their own homes in their own homes across Leicestershire. The agency is located in Wigston, Leicester. The service was providing support for up to 198 people at the time of our visit.

The service has a registered manager. 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, and associated Regulations, about how the service is run.

At our last inspection on 6 February 2014 the service was meeting all the regulations we inspected.

People using the service and relatives we spoke with said they thought the agency provided safe care. Staff were trained in safeguarding (protecting people from abuse) and understood their responsibilities in this area.

Some people using the service and their relatives told us that on occasions they thought there were enough staff to meet people’s needs as there were no missed calls. However, some people wanted to have the same staff as they thought this would provide better understanding of their needs. A few people’s risk assessments were in need of improvement to help ensure staff understood how to support them safely.

People using the service and relatives told us they thought medicines were given safely and on time.

People told us they were happy with the competence and skills of the staff who provided care to them. Records showed staff had a comprehensive induction and on-going training.

Staff understood their responsibilities under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and the home’s training records showed they had attended courses on this. However, assessments of people's capacity were not in place to show they were encouraged to make choices about how they wanted their support provided.

People said they liked the food that staff prepared for them or helped them to prepare. They said staff asked them what they wanted and their requests were met.

All the people we spoke with told us they liked the staff and got on well with them. The people we spoke with said they had been involved in making decisions about their care and support which showed they were encouraged to decide how they wanted their support provided. People also said staff protected their privacy and dignity.

People told us they received personalised care that met their needs. Records showed their preferences, for example getting up and going to bed times and whether they preferred a bath or a shower, were met. Care plans were individual to the people using the service and focused on their strengths and preferences.

People and their relatives told us they would speak out if they had any concerns, but this had not been necessary.

People and staff said they were generally satisfied with how the agency was run and said staff and management were approachable and committed to improving the service. People had the opportunity to share their views about the service by being provided with questionnaires.

The registered manager and staff carried out audits and checks to ensure the agency was running smoothly. Records showed they took prompt action if any improvements were needed to the service.