Your Own Home Care

Your Own Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. The office is based in a village in east Buckinghamshire.

The service had a 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.

We previously inspected the service on 23 and 25 November 2016 and 2 December 2016. We made two recommendations at the last inspection. We found improvements were required in the training of staff to ensure they were able to administer medicine safely. At this inspection we found improvements had been made. We also made a recommendation about ensuring the provider’s policies were followed in respect of support for staff. At this inspection we found some improvements had been made. However, we found ongoing issues with the connection between the provider’s policies and what happened in practice. The registered manager did not ensure all accidents and incidents were recorded. Relatives told us that when accidents occurred staff had managed the situation well. We have made a recommendation about this in the report Care plans were not always accurate. For instance one person’s name was incorrect within the care plan. We have made a recommendation about this in the report.

People gave us positive feedback about their experience of the service. This was supported by what relatives told us. Comments included “They [Staff] are patient and kind,” “The staff are very friendly, very nice, there hasn’t been anyone who has taken objection to me or me to them” and “The girls [Staff] are so lovely.” One relative told us “They [Staff] are all very professional, they are caring and each of them are helpful in lots of different ways.”

People were supported by staff with the right skills and attributes as the service had a robust recruitment process. All the required checks were made.

Where people required support with their nutritional needs, this was detailed in the person’s care plan.

People told us they had developed good working relationships with staff. Systems were in place for people to provide feedback to the registered manager about their care.

Staff told us they felt supported by the registered manager and that there was a commitment to provide a quality service.

Staff were knowledgeable about people’s likes and dislikes. The registered manager sought feedback from staff on improving the support provided to people.

This was the first time the service had been inspected it was the service’s first inspection since registration.

Your Own Home Care is an independent, family owned company. It is registered to provide personal care to people. The service is provided to people in their own homes, in the Aylesbury and surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection 14 people were being supported.

The service had a 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.

We received lots of positive feedback from people who used the service. Comments included “They (staff) are always very friendly and professional,” “I get on exceptionally well with them (staff) all” and “Very helpful and understanding.” A relative told us “Believe me I am critical but I can honestly say they (staff) are brilliant, very very caring.”

Where people had been identified as needing support with their medicine we saw this was included in their care plan and a medicine risk assessment was undertaken. However we found that some staff had provided people with support with medicines when they had not been trained to do so. We have recommended the service follows good practice in the safe handling of medicines.

We found there was some monitoring of the service. The registered manager did a lot of this by going out and delivering care. Few records were made about the quality of the service. The service had a number of policies and procedures, but the registered manager did not always work towards them. For instance, staff did not receive supervision and appraisal in line with the policy. We have made a recommendation about record keeping in the report.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. The service had a safeguarding procedure in place. People we spoke with stated they knew who to speak with if they had any concerns. Staff received training on safeguarding people. Staff had knowledge on recognising abuse and how to respond to safeguarding concerns.

People told us they had developed good working relationships with staff. Staff spoke passionately about the service they provided. Staff told us they really liked working for the service.

People told us they felt they received a personalised service, comments from people included, “I get asked ‘what do you need?’ and whatever I have asked for I got.” Another person told us “I get asked about choice and a re-check happens to ensure it is still suitable.”

People were always introduced to new staff; people told us how this was important to them as no strangers would turn up.

The service worked well with healthcare professionals and helped to support people to maintain good health.

There was a clear vision in the service to provide a high quality service, this was clearly laid out by the registered manager and the staff understood and agreed with this.