Archived: Pentlow Community Care Limited

Updated 10 May 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 which took place on 28 March 2017 and was announced. We contacted the agency 48 hours prior to the inspection to ensure there would be staff in the office when we did the inspection. The inspection was carried out by an inspector and expert by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who used this type of service.

This was the first rating inspection for this service.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA). We looked at information and notifications which had been submitted by the service. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required by law to tell us about. We also reviewed any other information that had been shared with us by the local authority and quality monitoring team.

We spoke with nine people who use the DCA and one relative, seven staff including the operations and acting manager, administration and care staff.

We spent time looking at care records for three people to get a picture of their care and support needs and how these are met. We also looked at documentation in a further one care file to follow up on a specific health condition and areas of care for people, including risk assessments.

Medicine Administration Records (MAR) charts returned to the office were checked. We read daily records and charts and other information completed by staff. We reviewed four staff files and other records relating to the management of the DCA, such as accident / incident recording, training and supervision planning, quality assurance and audit documentation.

Updated 10 May 2017

Pentlow Community Care is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to older people, people living with dementia and physical or sensory impairments in their own homes.

This comprehensive inspection was undertaken on 28 March 2017 and was announced.

Since the last inspection the registered manager had resigned and the service did not have a registered manager in post. Currently an acting manager was in day to charge. The acting manager had commenced the registration process with CQC to become the registered manager. 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 legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.’

We received positive feedback from people receiving care, relatives and staff regarding the day to day management of the DCA. The acting manager had implemented a programme to ensure staff recruitment, induction and supervision was robust and on-going. Staff received training to ensure they were appropriately trained to meet people’s needs. Staff training was assessed during spot checks and competencies to ensure that best practice was followed and maintained at all times.

People received care based on their individual needs and preferences. An initial assessment took place to identify people’s needs and to ensure the service were able to meet these. Risk assessments were in place for individual and environmental risks. Care and risk was regularly reviewed and changes made if required. Staff told us how they ensured people’s safety was maintained and demonstrated a clear understanding regarding safeguarding and how to report if needed.

Medicine processes were in place and these were audited regularly. Staff medicine competencies were completed and people told us they were happy with the way their medicines were managed.

There was a system in place to continually assess and monitor the quality of service provided. Audit information was used to continually improve and develop the service. Accidents, incidents and falls were audited and analysed. The acting manager told us how they used this information to identify any trends or themes.

People were actively involved in day to day choices and decisions. Staff and management had completed training around mental capacity assessments (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Some information was stored on the computer regarding people involved in decisions regarding peoples care. The acting manager told us they would add any relevant information to care records to ensure all staff had access to this information.

People who required assistance with shopping or meal preparation had this provided. Information was in place to inform staff of people’s nutritional needs. Guidance was in place from other health professionals when appropriate and staff were able to tell us about people’s needs. Staff were aware that people may become lonely or isolated and tried to support and encourage people to continue with activates to prevent this.

Care was person centred. People and their next of kin if appropriate were involved in reviews about how care was provided and people felt involved in choices and decisions made about their care and day to day activities.

A complaints procedure was available for people to access if needed. People told us if they had any concerns they contacted the office and they always received a prompt response. People were encouraged to provide feedback about the service they received. Information fed back was used to make changes and improvements.