Pamir Homecare

Updated 7 November 2018

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 31 May 2018 and was announced. The provider was given notice because the service provides care at home and we wanted to make sure the manager and staff would be available to speak with us.

Before the inspection, we checked for any notifications made to us by the provider and the information we held on our database about the service and provider. Statutory notifications are pieces of information about important events which took place at the service, such as safeguarding incidents, which the provider is required to send to us by law.

During the inspection we spoke with four people using the service and three relatives to obtain feedback about their experiences of the service. We spoke with the registered manager, and five care workers. We examined five people's care records. We also looked at personnel records of five care workers, including details of their recruitment, training and supervision. We reviewed further records relating to the management of the service, including staffing rotas and quality assurance processes, to see how the service was run.

Updated 7 November 2018

Pamir Homecare provides a range of services to people in their own home including personal care. People using the service had a range of needs such as learning and/or physical disabilities and dementia. The service mainly provided personal care for people on short visits at key times of the day to help people get up in the morning, go to bed at night and support with meals. At the time of our inspection 11 people were receiving personal care in their own homes.

Not everyone using Pamir Homecare received a regulated activity. CQC only inspect the service received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

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 (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.

When we last visited the service on 26 June 2016 and we were not able to award a rating because, the service only had one person at the time of our inspection, which meant we did not have enough evidence to enable us to rate them.

There were effective systems and processes in place to minimise risks to people. People told us they were safe. The service had safeguarding systems and processes to support care workers to protect people from avoidable harm. There were safeguarding, whistleblowing and anti-bullying and harassment policies in place and care workers were aware of how to raise concerns. Care workers underwent appropriate recruitment checks prior to working at the service. There was an adequate number of care workers deployed to meet the person’s needs. The registered manager told us care workers were allocated according to geographical areas, which reduced travel time and therefore improved timeliness. Equally, people received help with medicines in the way they wanted. They were supported to take their medicines by staff who had been trained in doing so.

People gave us consistently positive feedback about how the service was meeting their needs. Each person had a care plan that described the type of support required and how this was delivered. This was accomplished by the service working alongside a multidisciplinary team, which comprised members of different disciplines, such as occupational therapist, pharmacist, social workers and GPs, who were also involved the planning and treatment of people. People's capacity to make choices had been considered in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). They told us that care workers asked for permission before attending to their needs. The service had supported care workers to have the skills and knowledge to carry out their role. Care workers had received regular training and support.

People told us care workers were kind and caring. They told us care workers treated them with respect and maintained their privacy. People's individual preferences were respected. Their care plans contained detailed information so that care workers could understand their preferences. People’s independence was supported. Their care plans highlighted the importance of functional independence and so care workers were directed to prompt people to increase eating or dressing independence. Care workers had a good understanding of protecting and respecting people's human rights. They treated people’s values, beliefs and cultures with respect. In keeping with the human rights requirements, there were practical provisions for people’s differences to be respected.

People received person centred care. They told us that they had been involved when their care plans were written. By involving people, the service could deliver care that met their preferences. People's diversity and human rights were highlighted in their care plans. This ensured care workers were aware if they needed to make reasonable adjustments to meet people’s needs. People and their relatives confirmed that they could complain if needed. There was a complaints procedure which they were aware of. Although people’s communication needs were considered, this needed to be developed in terms of the requirements of Accessible Information Standard.

The service was well-led. This was an overall view we received from speaking with care workers, people and their relatives. The registered manager had a clear sense of responsibility and had led a management team to establish robust processes to monitor the quality of the service. A range of quality assurance processes, including surveys, audits, management of complaints had been used continuously to drive improvement.