15 May 2019
During a routine inspection
Age UK North West Kent is a domiciliary care service for people who receive personal care in their own home. At the time of our inspection there were 65 people who received personal care from the service. The service had recently introduced a ‘bathing plus’ service which included supporting people to have baths, preparing drinks and light snacks and catheter care. The service also provides a nail clipping service for people.
For more details, please read the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.
People's experience of using this service:
People said they felt safe with the staff when they received care in their own homes. They said that they were treated kindly and compassionately by the staff. People consented to their care and were supported by staff who were trained to fulfil their roles effectively.
People's needs were assessed and reviewed to ensure care being delivered was up to date and reflective of their needs.
People were supported to express their views and make decisions about their care. People had care plans that provided guidance for staff to provide care that was responsive to people's needs. Care plans were specific and personalised. People were supported to do things they wanted to do.
People were safeguarded from the risk of abuse and received person-centred care that promoted their dignity and independence. If any risks were identified, then steps had been taken to keep these to a minimum. When there were any incidents and accidents these were recorded, and steps were taken to prevent any re-occurrence. Staff understood how to prevent infection and wore protective equipment when necessary.
There were sufficient numbers of staff to provide the care people needed and all staff had been recruited safely. People said that staff arrived when they should and stayed the allotted amount of time. People reported that they had not had any missed calls. Staff received the training they needed to look after people in the way that suited them best. Staff received support, guidance and advice from the management team.
Staff communicated effectively with people and with each other to make sure people's needs were met in the way they had chosen. When people were unwell or needed extra support, they were referred to health care professionals and other external agencies.
Staff did not administer prescribed medicines regularly. Occasionally they supported people to apply prescribed creams to their skin. This was done with consent from people and their GP and was recorded.
People told us the service was well managed. Any complaints that were made were managed in the right way and people had been invited to suggest improvements to the service.
People and their relatives gave positive feedback about the service they received. They said the registered manager was approachable and sorted out any issues they had. Staff and people thought highly of the registered manager. Staff knew their roles and were able to tell us about the values and the vision of the service. There were adequate quality assurance measures in place. The service was well linked locally.
People, relatives and staff were encouraged to engage and improve the service. One person said, “You could not get better staff. The girls (staff) are lovely. They never let me down.”
Rating at last inspection:
Good – published on 3 October 2016.
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remained ‘Good’ overall.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.