Archived: Acorn Care & Nursing Limited

Updated 16 February 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 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 2, 3 and 23 December 2015 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 one adult social care inspector, a specialist nurse advisor 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 service. The expert by experience supported the inspection by telephoning people in their own home to gather their experiences of care and support being provided.

We reviewed information we held about the home, including the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that the provider is legally obliged to send us within the required timescale. We also contacted the local authority commissioners for the service, the local Healthwatch and the clinical commissioning group (CCG). Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We did not receive any information of concern from these organisations.

We spoke with eight people who used the service and four family members. We also spoke with the registered manager, the director, a supervisor, a co-ordinator, the administrator and four members of care staff. We looked at a range of care records which included the care records for 12 people who used the service, medicine records for 18 people, recruitment records for four staff, and other documents related to the management of the service.

Updated 16 February 2016

The inspection took place on 2, 3 and 23 December 2015. This was an announced inspection. At the previous inspection in April 2014 the service met the standards we inspected against at the time.

Acorn Care and Nursing Limited is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care and support to people in their own homes who have a variety of needs. The service is managed from an office located in South Shields. At the time of this inspection 85 people were using the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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 legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found the provider had breached Regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. The registered provider did not have accurate records to support and evidence the safe administration of medicines. We found gaps and inaccuracies in medicines records. The registered provider did not have systems in place to identify and respond to issues with medicines records in a timely manner. The provider’s checks on medicines records identified some inaccuracies but not all the issues we found on our inspection.

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.

Analysis of accidents and incidents were not carried out, so appropriate action was not taken to help keep people safe.

People told us they were happy with the care they received. They told us care staff were caring and helpful. People were supported to be as independent as possible whilst retaining their privacy and dignity. A few people told us they did not always receive regular care staff, and sometimes they did not know which staff were coming.

Staff completed safeguarding adults training as part of their induction, and this was updated regularly. Staff knew how to report concerns and were able to describe various types of abuse. Staff said any concerns they had would be taken seriously.

There were thorough recruitment and selection procedures to check new staff were suitable to care for and support vulnerable adults.

Staff told us they received appropriate training and opportunities to shadow established staff before providing care on their own. Staff received regular spot checks, supervisions and appraisals. This meant training needs could be identified and staff could be supported with their professional development.

Staff had access to detailed information to help them better understand the needs of people they cared for. This information included a person’s life history, hobbies, preferences and daily routine. Care plans were specific to the needs of the individual and were reviewed regularly and whenever a person’s needs changed.

People knew how to complain if they had a concern. People were frequently asked for their views about the service. Some people and relatives told us their complaints had been listened to, but not acted upon. Most people told us their complaints had been taken seriously and they were satisfied with the outcome. Feedback from the most recent consultation had been positive.

Staff told us there was positive, open culture at the service and they felt supported by management.