Archived: Integrity Home Care Limited

Updated 14 December 2016

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 registered 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 24 November 2016 and was announced. The registered provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager was available for us to speak with them. The inspection team consisted of one adult social care (ASC) inspector.

We looked at information we held about the service, which included notifications sent to us since the last inspection. Notifications are when registered providers send us information about certain changes, events or incidents that occur within the service. As part of the inspection process we contacted the local authority’s commissioning and safeguarding teams and asked if they had any relevant information about the service. They told us they did not have any information or concerns about Integrity Home Care Limited at the time of our inspection

We asked the registered provider to submit a provider information return (PIR) prior to the inspection and this was returned in September 2016 within the given timescale. The PIR is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

At this inspection we spoke with the registered manager and the deputy manager. We also spoke with one senior support worker and then visited three people living in their own homes (with their permission) and one relative. We spent time in the agency office looking at records, which included the care files and associated care records for two people who used the service; the recruitment, induction, training and supervision records for two support workers and records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 14 December 2016

Integrity Home Care Limited is registered to provide support and personal care to people in their own homes. On the day of inspection the service was providing a service to seven adults who lived in their own homes and employed nine support workers.

This inspection took place on 24 November 2016 and was announced. We gave the registered provider notice of the inspection to make sure that the registered manager was available on the day of the inspection. This inspection was to check that the registered provider was now meeting legal requirements we had identified as not being met at inspections in January 2015, April 2016 and July 2016.

At the comprehensive inspection in January 2015 we found the registered provider was in breach of regulation pertaining to good governance. At the comprehensive inspection of the service in April 2016 we found the registered provider had failed to achieve compliance with this regulation. The focused inspection held on July 2016 found that the registered provider had met this breach of regulation, but further work was needed to embed new practices. During this inspection we found further improvements had taken place and robust monitoring of the service was evident.

At the comprehensive inspection of April 2016 we found the registered provider was in breach of regulation pertaining to safe care and treatment. During this inspection we found improvements had taken place in relation to the safe handling of medicines and there was sufficient evidence to say this breach of regulation was now met.

The registered provider is required to have a registered manager and there was a registered manager in post who was registered with the Commission. 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.

The people using the service told us that they felt confident about their safety. We found that their support workers had a good knowledge of how to keep people safe from harm and the support workers had been employed following robust recruitment and selection processes.

There were sufficient support workers employed to meet people’s individual needs. The support workers received induction, training and supervision from the management team and we saw they had the necessary skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs. Communication was effective, people’s mental capacity was appropriately assessed and their rights were protected.

People told us that they had been included in planning and agreeing to the care provided. We saw that people had an individual plan, detailing the support they needed and how they wanted this to be provided. People had risk assessments in their care files to help minimise risks whilst still supporting people to make choices and decisions. There was a complaints procedure in place and people told us that they would not hesitate to contact the agency office if they had a concern.

We observed good interactions between people who used the service and staff on the day of the inspection. We found that people received compassionate care from kind staff and that staff knew about people’s needs and preferences. People were supplied with the information they needed at the right time, were involved in all aspects of their care and were always asked for their consent before staff undertook support tasks. People were happy with the assistance they received with the preparation of meals.

People were treated with respect and dignity by the support workers. Every person we met, or spoke with, agreed that they received a very personal service from support workers they knew and trusted.

People and the support workers told us that the service was well managed. The registered manager monitored the quality of the service, supported the support workers and ensured that people who used the service were able to make suggestions and input to the development of the service.