Archived: ARC Community Care

ARC Community Care is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people in their own home. This includes personal care, shopping, activities and appointments to people who live in their own homes. The agency provide support to people with a range of care needs and includes older people, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities. The office base is located in a residential area of Lytham St Anne’s. At the time of our inspection ARC Community Care provided services to 44 people. 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.

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

People were safe and protected from abuse because staff assessed and managed risk. Staff were recruited safely. People told us staff were reliable and consistently met their care and support needs. People received their medicines as they needed.

People were helped to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff assessed people's capacity to make decisions and supported them with decision making. Staff supported people with meal preparation where needed. They encouraged them to eat and drink enough to keep them in the best health possible. They liaised with health and social care professionals effectively and sought advice quickly if people were ill or injured. Staff had the training, skills and experience to provide good care.

Staff provided care that met people’s different needs and preferences. People and where appropriate, their relatives were involved in planning their care and encouraged to make decisions. People said they were pleased with their care. They told us they were treated respectfully and with consideration to their privacy and dignity.

Staff assessed people’s communication needs and were familiar with the ways people communicated. People said they had no complaints but would be able to discuss any concerns or complaints and felt they would be acted on. Staff understood the importance of supporting people to have a comfortable, pain free and peaceful end of life.

People said staff encouraged them to give their opinions about the service and to make decisions about their care. They told us staff listened to and acted on these. The registered manager worked in partnership with other services and organisations to make sure they followed good practice and people in their care were safe. The management team monitored and audited the service to check on the quality and make sure staff were providing good care. They understood and acted on legal obligations, including conditions of CQC registration and those of other organisations.

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

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated good (7 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

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.

ARC Community Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to people in their own home. This includes personal care shopping, activities and appointments to people who live in their own homes. The agency provide support to people with a range of care needs and include older people, people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities. The office base is located in a residential area of Lytham St Anne’s. At the time of our inspection ARC Community Care Ltd provided services to over 60 people.

At the last comprehensive inspection on 03 December 2014 the service was rated overall as good.

There was a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

People told us they had been visited by senior staff before their support began who carried out an assessment of their needs. There were procedures in place to protect people from abuse and unsafe care. We saw risk assessments were in place which provided guidance for staff. This minimised risks to people.

We spoke with people who received a service. People told us they felt safe and comfortable with staff, they received attentive care and they liked the staff who supported them. They said staff were friendly and respectful, punctual and conscientious. People told us staff had never missed visiting them. They usually arrived on time and informed them if they were delayed. People told us they were usually supported by the same group of staff who they knew and liked.

Recruitment and selection was carried out safely with appropriate checks made before new staff could start working for the service. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience needed to care for people. They received training to carry out their role and were knowledgeable how to support and care for people. They had the skills, knowledge and experience to provide safe and effective support.

Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Staff had not needed to make an application when we inspected.

Staff supported people to have a nutritious dietary and fluid intake, assisting them to prepare and eat food and drinks as they needed.

Staff supported people with medicines safely. People able to manage their own medicines were encouraged to do so.

Care plans were personalised detailing how people wished to be supported. People who received support or where appropriate their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care. Their consent and agreement were sought before providing care.

People who used the service and their relatives knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The complaints procedure was available and people said they were encouraged to raise any concerns.

Senior staff monitored the support staff provided to people. They checked staff arrived on time and supported people in the way people wanted. Audits of care records and risk assessments were carried out regularly. People and their relatives were encouraged to complete surveys about the quality of their care.

People who used the service and their relatives told us that they were happy with the care they or their loved ones received. One person said, "I'm very happy, there are some lovely girls (care workers)". Another person said, "Yes, I'm happy,all the carers are nice and I have no issues".

People were supported by staff who were appropriately trained to deliver the assistance required by each individual.

Appropriate systems were in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of services that people receive. Internal and external auditing systems were used.

The service had an effective complaints policy and procedure in place that both staff and people who used the service understood.

'We have been having them for years and have never had the slightest problem!'

'I would recommend them to anybody.'

'We are more than satisfied with all the carers. We find them all very good.'

We looked at a number of areas during the inspection, including how the agency promoted the care and welfare of people who used the service and how they ensured that staff were competent to carry out their roles. We found that the service was compliant with all the areas we assessed. However, we did identify some areas for minor improvement and we have asked the service to address these.