Archived: Personalized Homecare Limited

Personalized Homecare limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to 7 seven people living in their own homes.

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:

People and relatives we spoke with told us they felt safe care was delivered by staff. Staff had a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and how to report abuse.

Medication was administered safely, and records kept were accurate.

Risk assessments were in place to manage risks within people’s lives. These assessments were reviewed and kept up to date.

Staff recruitment procedures ensured that appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out.

People told us that staff arrived on time, and they received the consistent support they required.

Staff were trained to support people effectively.

Staff were supervised and felt confident in their roles.

When required, people were supported by staff to prepare food.

When required, people had support with healthcare arrangements..

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.

Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and spent time getting to know them.

People were supported in the least restrictive way possible.

Care was personalised to each individual, and people and their relatives had a good relationship with staff.

People and their family were involved in their own care planning as much as was possible.

A complaints system was in place and was used effectively.

The registered manager was open and honest, and worked in partnership with outside agencies to improve people’s support when required.

Audits took place which were effective at finding fault, and appropriate actions were taken.

The service had a registered manager in place, and staff felt well supported by them.

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 14 June 2017)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned comprehensive inspection

Follow up:

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

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

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Improvements were required to ensure that all staff received comprehensive training which reflected all aspects of care, relevant to the people that used the service.

People received safe care and support. Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and abuse and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. There were sufficient staff to meet the needs of people that used the service and recruitment procedures protected people from receiving unsafe care from care staff unsuited to the job.

Care records contained risk assessments to protect people from identified risks and helped to keep them safe but also enabled positive risk taking. They gave information for staff on the identified risk and informed staff on the measures to take to minimise any risks.

People were actively involved in decisions about their care and support needs. There were formal systems in place to assess people’s capacity for decision making under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. In addition, staff supported people to manage their healthcare needs.

People received care from staff that were kind and friendly. Staff understood people’s needs and ensured people were given choices about how they wished to receive their care. People received care at their own pace and had their privacy and dignity maintained when receiving assistance with their personal care.

People’s care needs were assessed to ensure the service could meet people’s expectations before they began using the service. Care plans were written in a person centred manner and focussed on empowering people to receive the care they required. They detailed how people wished to be supported and people were fully involved in making decisions about their care. People received the care they needed and a suitable complaints procedure was in operation to resolve any concerns people raised.

People and staff reacted positively to the registered manager and the culture within the service focussed upon supporting people’s health and well-being which enabled people to stay in their own homes for as long as possible. Systems were in place to identify where improvements were required and these were effective at making improvements.