HOME CARING SERVICES

Home Caring Services is a is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 38 people.

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

Risks to people's health and wellbeing were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff acted to minimise these risks and keep people safe.

Arrangements were in place to ensure that people received their prescribed medicines safely. Risk assessments were in place for people who managed their own medicines.

Recruitment procedures were in place and there were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs. Staff were satisfied about the training they received. Specialist training was proved when this was needed. Staff knew how to promote choices for people.

People were encouraged to maintain levels of independence by staff who had regard to their likes, dislikes and individualities.

Care was arranged so people's needs were met by a regular group of staff who knew them well. People saw regular staff to promote people's wellbeing and their need for routine.

Care plans contained detailed information with regard to people's support needs and were reviewed regularly. People, and where appropriate their relatives, were involved in the care planning process.

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

this practice.

The registered manager showed effective leadership and the service was well run. Audits and checks were in place and accidents and incidents were analysed for any patterns or trends. The results were used to inform improvements to service delivery. Records evidenced good partnership working with the local authority and other professionals and agencies.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 12 May 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

We previously inspected the service on 14 December 2015 and at that time we found the registered provider was meeting the regulations.

Home Caring Services is registered to provide personal care. Care and support is provided to people who live in their own homes within the locality of Pontefract. On the day of our inspection 40 people were receiving support with personal care.

The service had 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People we spoke with told us they were happy with the service provided and they felt safe with Home caring services. Staff had received safeguarding training and they were aware of their responsibility to report any concerns to their manager. The service had procedures in place for identifying and following up allegations of abuse, and staff demonstrated a good knowledge of the procedures to follow.

Care plans contained risk assessments which were relevant to people’s individual needs and the environment and contained sufficient detail to provide direction for staff in how to reduce risks to people.

The registered provider had a robust system in place to vet potential employees. All staff who administered medicines were trained and assessed as competent. This meant people received their medicines from people who had the appropriate knowledge and skills.

Staff told us they felt supported. New employees were supported in their role completing a thorough induction and shadowing more experienced staff and there was a programme of on-going refresher training for existing staff. Staff told us they received supervision to ensure they had the skills and competence to meet people’s needs.

Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act and understood people’s rights to make decisions about their lives. People told us they were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice

People who used the service told us staff were caring and kind. People’s privacy and dignity was respected and care plans reflected the need to encourage people to retain their independence. The service catered for people's diverse needs and people were matched to care staff to provide continuity of care.

People had care plans in place which noted the tasks they required support with, as well as detail about their choices and preferences. Staff told us these were reflective of people’s needs and we saw these were updated regularly.

People who used the service told us the service was well-led and they were very happy with the care provided.

The registered provider had a system in place to monitor the performance of the service. Staff were monitored at regular intervals and audits were completed of people’s daily records, care plans and staff files. The registered provider asked people who used the service and staff for feedback and this information was reviewed and fed back to staff.

The inspection of Home Caring Services took place on 14 December 2015 and was announced. Home Caring Services was registered with the Care Quality Commission in January 2015. This was the first inspection of the service since their registration.

Home Caring Services is registered to provide personal care. Care and support is provided to people who live in their own homes within the locality of Pontefract. One the day of our inspection 35 people were receiving support with personal care and 28 staff were employed by the service.

The service had a registered manager in place. 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.

People told us they felt safe and staff understood their responsibilities in keeping people safe from the risk of abuse.

Risks to people’s welfare had not been robustly assessed and relevant risk assessments had not always been implemented.

Recruitment of staff was thorough.

Staff received training in medicines management but recording of medicines was not always safe.

Staff were in the process of completing training in a variety of topics.

People told us staff were caring. Staff respected people’s right to privacy and to be treated with dignity and respect.

Care records contained a number of plans providing instructions for staff as to how people’s needs were to be met. Documents were reviewed at regular intervals.

There was a system in place to record and respond to complaints.

The systems of governance were not yet fully embedded.

Meetings were held with staff and the registered manager gained feedback from people who used the service.