Beacon Home Care Services Limited

Updated 13 October 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we needed consent from people and relatives to allow us to contact them. Inspection activity started on 28 July 2022 and ended on 5 September 2022. We visited the location’s office on 2 and 9 August 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback 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 used this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We spoke with 15 people and relatives. We contacted 12 care staff for their views. We spoke with the registered manager, care managers and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records including four people's care and medicines records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed, including staff recruitment, training records, policies and procedures.

Updated 13 October 2022

About the service

Beacon Homecare Services Ltd (Carlisle) is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people receiving personal care from the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The provider had a system to check the safety and quality of the service but it had not always been fully effective. The provider was upgrading it's quality assurance processes and we have made a recommendation about this.

People and relatives praised the staff for their caring, friendly attitude. People said staff were kind, helpful and respected their dignity and independence.

The service was safe. Risks to people’s health and safety were managed without compromising their independence. People enjoyed good relationships with the staff who supported them.

There were enough staff to meet the current number and needs of people using the service. People were supported by staff who had been safely recruited. Staff were trained and supported to carry out their jobs.

People were fully involved in the arrangements about their care service and their decisions were respected. The management had a good working relationship with other care professionals for the benefit of the people who used the service.

People said they were asked for consent when receiving care. People were supported in a person-centred way and their individuality was respected and celebrated. The service was quick to respond to changes in people’s needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service upheld this practice.

The service had a positive culture which focused on people receiving personalised care. People and staff said the management team were approachable and helpful.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 6 July 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.