Archived: Homecare Sutton

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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. Staff were trained in adult safeguarding procedures and knew what to do if they considered people were at risk of harm or if they needed to report any suspected abuse. Staff were aware of the whistleblowing procedures and knew how to use them.

The risks to people's safety and wellbeing were assessed and reviewed.

There were sufficient numbers of appropriately recruited staff available to help meet people’s current level of needs.

People were supported appropriately with the management of their medicines.

Staff completed appropriate training for good practice with food hygiene and infection control.

The provider had processes in place for the recording and investigation of incidents and accidents.

Staff were supported with a wide range of appropriate training and supervision that they told us helped them to do their jobs effectively.

The provider met the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) to help ensure people’s rights were protected. Staff had received appropriate training and had a good understanding of the MCA. People and their relatives said staff sought their consent before providing care.

People were supported to access health care services as required in order to help them to stay healthy.

Relatives told us staff were consistently kind and caring and established positive relationships with people and with them. They told us staff valued people, treated them with respect and promoted their rights, choice and independence.

People and their relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care. Care plans were reviewed on a regular basis and when there was a change in their care needs. People were given information about how to make a complaint. The people we spoke with knew how to go about making a complaint and were confident that they would be responded to appropriately by the provider. We saw evidence the registered manager responded to complaints received in a timely manner.

We received positive feedback about the management of the service. The registered manager and the staff were approachable and fully engaged with providing good quality care for people who used the service. The provider had systems in place to continually monitor the quality of the service and there were arrangements for people to be asked for their opinions via surveys. Action plans were developed where required to address areas for improvements.

After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote and told us they would ensure that all staff would have their criminal records checks completed every three years and that staff training records would be reviewed and updated.

We undertook a focused inspection on 20 October 2016 to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This inspection was announced and we gave the provider 48 hours’ notice as we needed to be sure of the availability of staff records, which often can only be accessed by managers.

This report only covers our findings in relation to these requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection by selecting the 'all reports' link for Homecare Sutton on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Homecare Sutton provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, the service provided personal care to 10 people. In addition they also offer a companionship service to approximately 35 people. This part of the service is not regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The service did not have a registered manager in post, although they are required to do so. We will follow up the status of the registered manager with the provider. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At our focused inspection we saw the provider had followed their action plan. They had instigated a policy that stated criminal records checks would be renewed every three years and there were mechanisms in place to ensure this happened.

Systems had been put in place to record staff training both on a database which flagged up renewal dates, and also on staff files. Both systems were reviewed to ensure they were updated regularly.

The provider had taken sufficient action to meet the legal requirements that were being breached at the last inspection. We have not improved our rating for ‘well-led’ from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ because we want to see consistent improvements at the service and a registered manager in post.

Homecare Sutton provides personal care to people living in their own homes. They currently provide personal care to approximately ten people. In addition they also offer a companionship service to approximately 35 people, this part of the service is not regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The service did not have a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated regulations about how the service is run. At the time of the inspection there was a manager in post who had been interviewed by CQC to become the registered manager and was awaiting confirmation of the outcome.

The provider did not always have effective quality assurance processes in relation to ongoing checks of the suitability of staff to work for the agency and did not maintain accurate records about the training of staff. We found the provider completed various checks at recruitment stage which included criminal records checks; however these checks were not renewed. This meant people were at risk of receiving care from workers who might no longer be suitable to be employed. The provider had identified this as a concern and we saw evidence they were amending their procedures, although this had not been initiated at the time of inspection.

Furthermore, the management team had difficulty locating some of the records we requested during our inspection and some were also not available. This related particularly to staff training records which could not be accessed easily on the day of the inspection.

We identified a breach of the Health and Social Care (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 during our inspection. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

Notwithstanding these issues, we received many positive comments from people about the service they received from Homecare Sutton. They told us they knew their care workers well which meant their care was tailored to their needs. People were matched carefully with care workers and the provision of the service was reviewed regularly by the provider to ensure the quality of the care was maintained. People told us if they had any issues or concerns they felt able to raise them with office staff and they were confident they would be addressed.

Care workers were able to tell us how they kept people safe and what action they would take to protect people. They also made sure people had the medicines they were prescribed. The provider routinely monitored people’s health, which included ensuring people were getting enough to eat and drink.

Staff received training and support in order to undertake their roles effectively. Care workers told us they felt the manager and team leader were open and approachable.

Care workers respected people’s rights to privacy and dignity and they ensured they sought consent from people before providing care. Care workers knew how to maintain people’s confidentiality.

People were encouraged wherever possible to do as much as they could for themselves. In this way people’s independent living skills were maintained. The agency supported people to maintain their interests and links with their family and friends so they continue to lead fulfilling lives.

The service had identified risks to people and how these risks could be minimised. Accidents and incidents were recorded and analysed in order to reduce re-occurrences. The manager was aware of their responsibilities and knew when they had to inform CQC of significant issues that had arisen within the service.

The provider had a number of measures in place to monitor the quality of the service so there was a drive towards continuous improvement.