Background to this inspection
Updated
17 March 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 22, 23 and 25 January 2018 and was announced. The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and two experts by experience who made phone calls to people who used the service and their relatives. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally required to let us know about. We also contacted the local authority commissioners for the service, the local authority safeguarding team, the clinical commissioning group (CCG) and the local Healthwatch to gain their views of the service provided. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the feedback we received to inform the planning of our inspection.
During the inspection we spoke with 16 people and nine relatives. We also spoke with the registered manager, the regional manager, the deputy manager and two care co-ordinators. We asked care workers to complete a questionnaire and we received 26 responses.
We reviewed six people's care records and five staff recruitment files. We reviewed medicine administration records for fifteen people as well as records relating to staff training, supervisions and the management of the service.
Updated
17 March 2018
This inspection took place on 22, 23 and 25 January 2018 and was announced. We gave 48 hours' notice of the inspection to ensure that staff would be available in the office to assist us.
Careline Homecare Hartlepool is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. It provides a service to younger and older adults with a range of care needs. At the time of our inspection there were 294 people using the service.
A registered manager was in place 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.
We last inspected this service in October 2015 when it was rated ‘Good.’ During this inspection we found the service remains ‘Good.’
People and relatives told us they felt safe when care workers visited and most people spoke positively about the service. Staff had received training to ensure they knew how to recognise and report potential abuse. Risks to people were identified and plans were in place to help manage and minimise risks. Medicines were managed in a safe way and checks were made to ensure staff were competent to administer people's medicines.
People were assisted to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Staff were provided with effective training, support and development opportunities to enable them to meet people's needs. People were supported with eating and drinking where they had needs in this area.
People told us staff were respectful, kind and caring. People said the quality of the service was good and staff promoted privacy and dignity.
Detailed support plans were in place which were specific to the needs of individuals. Support plans contained information about how people wanted and needed to be supported. People knew how to make a complaint. Complaints were dealt with promptly and appropriately.
Effective systems were in place to assess the quality of care people received. People's feedback was sought regularly and acted upon. Staff told us they could approach the registered manager at any time.