North Home Care

Updated 28 November 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and two assistant inspectors.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection as we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 23 October 2019 and ended on 6 November with telephone calls to care staff.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 13 people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 12 members of staff including the provider, registered manager, deputy manager, team leaders, care coordinator and care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 28 November 2019

About the service

North Home Care provides short term personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 100 people were in receipt of care. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. The service currently offered rehabilitation packages which were short term.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were supported by staff who knew how to promote their safety and who used equipment to reduce the risk of infection. Any concerns were reported to the office for action or review. There were enough staff to support people in a safe way which managed and reduce their risk of harm or injury. People’s medicines were administered and managed by staff who had been trained and had their competencies checked. Where things had gone wrong the provider had listened and taken action to learn from those events.

People’s needs had been assessed and staff had been trained and supported to provide the care people needed. Where needed people got the meals they chose and staff prepared these or made sure they were accessible to people later in the day. The provider worked with other professionals such as social workers and hospital staff in support of people’s health care needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People received care from staff who were kind and considerate to their needs. Staff knew to respect people’s homes, beliefs and wishes. Promoting independence was a key factor of the service and people had been successful in regaining the skills of daily living [and no longer needing care.]

People’s care plans had been personalised to them and their needs and preferences had been recorded. Staff used these care plans to demonstrate they were meeting people’s needs. Staff knew the best way to communicate with each person, [such as gestures or writing things down.] There was a complaints procedure in place which was accessible in people’s homes. End of life care was not offered as the service was currently offering short term rehabilitation packages.

The registered manager oversaw the service provided and was supported in their role by a care manager. People’s feedback showed they had received a service they were happy with. The quality of care people had received, and the performance of staff had been checked by the registered manager’s systems and processes. The registered manager was knowledgeable about the service and understood their role and their requirements under the regulations.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 25 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.