Background to this inspection
Updated
1 August 2017
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 29 June 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice so we could ensure that care records and staff were available to help inform our inspection. The inspection was conducted by one inspector.
As part of our inspection, we reviewed the information we already held about the provider. Providers are required to notify the Care Quality Commission about specific events and incidents that occur, including serious injuries to people receiving care and any safeguarding matters. These help us to plan our inspection. Before the inspection, the provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) and returned this to us within the timescale requested. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We received feedback from the local authority who monitor the quality of the service. We reviewed the information from commissioners, notifications and the PIR to plan the areas we wanted to focus our inspection on.
During our inspection, we spoke with two people who used the service and the relatives of six other people. We spoke with four care staff, the registered manager and an office administrator. We also reviewed three people’s care records, four staff files and records maintained by the service about risk management, staffing, training and quality assurance.
Updated
1 August 2017
This inspection visit took place on 29 June 2017 and was announced. This was the first inspection of this service since it was registered.
The service is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people. At the time of our inspection, there were 10 people using the service. There was a registered manager in place. 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 were protected from the risk of potential abuse and told us they felt safe when the staff visited. Staff had a clear understanding of the procedures in place to safeguard people from abuse.
We found the service employed enough staff to meet the needs of the people being supported. The support provided was usually from a consistent group of staff who had been safely recruited. People who used the service told us they had not experienced any missed calls and that calls were usually on time.
People who needed support with their medicines were supported appropriately. Staff knew how to dispense medicines safely and there were regular checks to make sure this was done properly.
Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. They had the skills, knowledge and experience required to support people with their care and support needs. Staff were well supported and received regular supervision.
People’s consent was sought before they were provided with care. People were encouraged to exercise their choices. The provider needed to ensure that where other people made decisions on behalf of people that they had the legal right to do so.
People said staff were caring and treated them with dignity and respect. People felt the care they had received met their needs. We found the information contained in the care records was individualised and clearly identified people's needs and preferences.
Staff had been encouraged to support people to make choices. People were supported when required by staff to prepare their meals and to eat and drink enough to maintain good health. People were supported to access healthcare support when necessary.
The provider sought feedback from people using the service and their relatives in respect of the quality of care provided and had arrangements in place to deal with any concerns or complaints. The registered provider had developed a complaints procedure. People said they felt confident to raise complaints and knew who to contact if they had any concerns.
Systems to ensure people received a quality were in place and people and staff described the registered manager as approachable.