Archived: Pennine Social Care Limited Head Office

Updated 27 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 04 January 2016 and was announced. The registered provider was given short notice of our inspection. We did this because the service is small and the registered manager is sometimes out of the office or providing care and we needed to be sure that they would be available. The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector. We spoke on the telephone with four people who used the service and six relatives. This helped us to understand the views and experiences of people who used the service.

Prior to the inspection visit we gathered information from a number of sources. We also looked at the information received about the service from notifications sent to the Care Quality Commission by the registered manager. We did not ask the provider to complete the provider information return (PIR). This 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 gathered information from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We also spoke with a district nurse who attended one of the people who used the service. They did not raise any concerns about the care provided to the person.

At the office we spoke with one of the directors and the registered manager who also delivered personal care to people who used the service. We also spoke with five care staff who worked with people who used the service in the community.

We looked at documentation relating to three people who used the service, six staff files and the management of the service. This took place in the office. The registered manager told us the care plans were also stored in people’s home. These were copies of the files held at the office.

Updated 27 January 2017

The inspection took place on 04 January 2017. The registered provider was given short notice of our inspection. We did this because the service is small and the registered manager is sometimes out of the office or providing care and we needed to be sure that they would be available. This was the first comprehensive inspection of the service which was originally registered with the Care Quality Commission in May 2015.

Pennine Social Care Limited Head Office is a domiciliary care service. They are registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting people with a variety of care needs including older people and younger people living with family members. Care and support was co-ordinated from the services office which is based in Oldham.

There was a registered manager which oversees services provided from the office. 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.

At the time of our inspection there were 11 people using the service. We spoke on the telephone with four people who used the service and six relatives. We asked people about their experiences of using the agency. People we spoke with told us they were mostly happy with the service provided.

People told us they felt safe in their own homes and staff were available to offer support when needed to help them maintain their independence. People’s needs had been assessed before their care package commenced and some people told us they had been involved in formulating and updating their care plans. We found the information contained in the care records we sampled was individualised and identified people’s needs and preferences, as well as any risks associated with their care and the environment they lived in.

We found people received a service that was based on their personal needs and wishes. Changes in people’s needs were identified and their care package amended to meet their changing circumstances. Where people needed assistance taking their medication this was administered in a timely way by staff who had been trained to carry out this role. We found staff had signed to confirm they had supported/prompted people with their medication. However, we found two people were prescribed creams to prevent pressure sores. Staff confirmed they applied the creams but did not complete a MAR’s when they applied the creams. We raised this with the registered manager, and asked that these items were added to the MAR's.

The recruitment of staff was not sufficiently robust to ensure staff were employed with all of the required employment checks. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

There were sufficient trained staff employed to ensure people received their care consistently. People told us that they received support from mostly the same care workers.

People were able to raise any concerns they may have had. We saw the service user guide included ‘how to make a complaint.’ However, elements of the guide required updating to reflect the current regulations.

People were encouraged to give their views about the quality of the care provided to help drive up standards. However the quality assurance systems had not been effective in identifying areas for improvement. Investigations in relation to complaints were not fully recorded. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.