Archived: Oakville Homecare LTD

Updated 13 May 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 11 and 12 January and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care 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.

During our inspection we spoke with 14 people who use the service. We also spoke with nine care staff, the manager of the service and operational director. We looked at the care records for six people. We also looked at records that related to how the service was managed, such as minutes of meetings, training records, four staff files and quality assurance audits.

Updated 13 May 2017

This inspection took place on 11 and 12 January and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care 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.

Oakville Homecare is registered for the regulated activity of 'personal care'. At the time of the inspection the service was providing care to 76 people in their own homes. They were providing approximately 650 hours of personal care as well as domestic care and a sitting service. They currently employed 27 staff.

There was no registered manager in post. 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.

There were inconsistencies in the reliability and timeliness of care that was being provided. People reported to us that they did not always know or could rely on the time care workers would arrive. Whilst there were arrangements for people to receive the weekly schedule of visits this was not received by all the people we spoke with. One person told us "I never really know who is coming and would like to." This inconsistency was reflected in the formal complaints received by the service.

The arrangements for the reviewing of people's care were not being followed. Whilst people spoke of being able to discuss their care the formal reviewing of care was not consistently taking place.

Staff were not receiving the supervision and monitoring of their practice to ensure they were undertaking their role as expected by the provider. There was lack of consistency when staff undertook their induction period to ensure they were competent and effective when working independently.

There was a failure by the provider to ensure the quality monitoring systems were effective in identifying areas for improvement and actions taken to address shortfalls in the quality of the service.

People spoke of care workers they could trust and felt confident in being able to provide them with safe care. One person told us "The carers are all very good, friendly and caring." Another spoke of having a trusting and caring relationship with the care workers who supported them.

Staff spoke of having received the training they needed to undertake their role. People told us they felt safe with staff particularly when they were using equipment such as hoists. One person said "I do not worry about the staff knowing what to do: they all seem well trained which makes me feel safe."

People were able to express a preference about having male or female care workers to assist them with personal care. People were supported by staff to exercise choice in their daily routines and retain as much independence as they were able to.

People received support which was focussed on their individual needs. One person told us "The carers see me as a person. They provide care with me rather than for me. "Staff demonstrated a detailed understanding of people's specific needs and routines. These formed part of people's daily care plan.

The service had undertaken a questionnaire survey asking people their views of the quality of the care they received. There was 49% response rate and there had been positive feedback about the quality of care people had received. There was overall excellent or good satisfaction rate with the personal care being provided.

Staff spoke of wanting to provide a reliable service meeting people's needs. One told us "It is providing care to the person and they knowing they can rely on us." They also reflected the manager's comments in that they said how they wanted to provide a consistent and reliable caring service.

The provider had a clear vision for the service, which was to provide a quality home care service. They recognised the challenges facing the service particularly around monitoring the quality, identifying and making improvements, recruitment and retention and providing a competitive service.

We found breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.