Archived: Ashridge Community Care

Updated 13 April 2016

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 between the 8 and 15 February 2016. We visited the agency offices on the 8 and 9 February 2016. This was an announced inspection. This means the provider was given notice due to it being a domiciliary care provider and we needed to ensure someone was available to talk to us. The inspection involved visits to the agency’s offices and telephone conversations with people and staff.

The last inspection took place in January 2014 where no concerns were identified.

Before the inspection we looked at information provided by the local authority. We reviewed records held by the CQC including notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required by law to tell us about. We also looked at information we hold about the service including previous reports and any other information that has been shared with us.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information return (PIR). A PIR 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 used the PIR to help us focus on specific areas of practice during the inspection.

Ashridge Community Care is a domiciliary care company owned by Pentlow Community Care Ltd. Ashridge provides privately or local authority funded care and support to older people in their homes in Bexhill and the surrounding area. Although separately registered with CQC, Ashridge Community Care is a small service integrated into the day to day running of Pentlow Community Care from the same office in Eastbourne.

People receiving care from Ashridge Community Care were able to tell us about their experiences. We looked at care documentation and daily records, risk assessments and associated daily records and charts for people. Medicine Administration Records (MAR) charts and medicine records were checked. We looked at supporting computer systems based at the office and read information completed by staff, policies and procedures, accidents, incidents, quality assurance records, staff memos and meeting minutes. Recruitment files were reviewed for three staff and records of staff training, supervision and appraisals.

Ashridge Community Care currently provides personal care to two people. There was a small care team comprising of three care staff. We spoke to both people receiving care and support and received feedback from all three staff members. We also contacted health professionals who have contact with the service on a regular basis.

Updated 13 April 2016

Ashridge Community Care is a domiciliary care agency owned by Pentlow Community Care Ltd providing care and support to people living in their own homes in Bexhill-on-Sea and surrounding area. Although separately registered with CQC, Ashridge Community Care is a small service integrated into the day to day running of Pentlow Community Care from the same offices in Eastbourne.

The inspection took place on the 8 and 9 February 2016 and this was an announced inspection.

We informed the registered manager two days prior to our inspection to ensure that there was someone available to meet us at the office when we arrived. This also allowed the manager time to contact both clients to inform them of our inspection and seek permission for us to contact them.

Ashridge Community Care provided personal care to two people at the time of our inspection. Some people were living with illness or other long-term health related conditions, but lived reasonably independent lives and Ashridge Community provided care or support to help them maintain their independence and be able to stay living in their own homes.

Ashridge Community Care had a registered manager who was also the registered manager for Pentlow Community Care and both services were run jointly from the same offices in Eastbourne. 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.

The manager was in day to day charge of the service, supported by a deputy manager and an administration team of care co-ordinators and care staff. Staff told us that they felt supported by the registered manager and knew that there was always someone available to support them when needed. Staff told us that the manager had made a number of positive changes.

Staff knew about people and the medicines they required. However, medicines procedures were not followed and documentation was not clear. This meant that medicines were not always administered in a safe and consistent way.

Systems were in place to assess and monitor the service however these had not identified some of the areas of concern found during the inspection. Including MAR charts, medicine procedures and documentation.

Staff told us they had a good understanding of how to support people. However we found that care information in peoples homes and support plans did not contain all the information staff needed to look after people.

All staff were committed to providing a high quality service for people in their own homes. Staff told us they liked helping people remain independently in their homes. People using the service spoke highly of the staff and the service they received.

Staff had a good understanding of the risks associated with the people they looked after. However, the risk assessments did not reflect all the identified risks and actions taken when concerns when noted were not always documented.

Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and what steps they would take if someone was at risk of abuse or harm. There were enough staff who had been safely recruited to meet the needs of people who used the service.

Staff had an understanding of MCA and the importance of consent when providing care and support in people’s homes.

Staff and people were supported by a registered manager who was committed to improving the service to ensure they were consistently providing a high quality service that met people’s needs. Feedback was gained from people this included questionnaires and reviews and a complaints procedure was in place. The registered manager told us there were no on-going complaints.

We found a breach of Regulations of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what actions we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.