Archived: Brentwood Homecare

Brentwood Homecare is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. The agency’s office is located in the centre of Rosegrove, close to all local amenities. The agency provides a service to people residing in Burnley and Pendle. At the time of the inspection 68 people were using the service.

The nominated representative for Brentwood Homecare Ltd was acting as the manager of the service and is referred to as the manager throughout the report. There was no registered manager. 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. Following the inspection we received correspondence from the manager to confirm he had begun the process to register with the Commission.

We last inspected this service on 14 January 2013 and found it was meeting the regulations that were applicable at this time. During this inspection we found the service was meeting the current regulations.

People and their relatives were happy with the service they received from Brentwood Homecare. They told us they felt safe using the service. Potential risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed and managed effectively. Staff showed awareness of how to keep people safe and understood the policies and procedures used to safeguard people. Staff were also aware of the procedures to follow to ensure that medicines were handled safely.

No new staff had been recruited since our last inspection. We were therefore unable to check recruitment records.

The manager ensured there were sufficient staff available to cover for emergency absences and other leave in order to ensure that there were no missed visits.

There were policies and procedures relating to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the manager had prepared information for the staff in order to increase their knowledge on this legislation. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to gaining consent before providing support and care.

Where people required assistance with their dietary needs there were systems in place to provide this support safely. People were supported as necessary, with meal planning, preparation, eating and drinking.

There were systems in place to ensure all staff received regular training and supervision.

Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and maintained their dignity. All people spoken with told us the staff were kind and caring. People were actively involved in the development and review of their care plans. This meant people were able to influence the delivery of their care and staff had up to date information about people’s needs and wishes. People told us they usually received care from a consistent group of staff.

People, their relatives and staff spoken with had confidence in the manager and felt the agency was well managed. We found there were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service, which included feedback from people using the service.

People were involved in their assessment of needs and the development of their care plan. People's views were taken into account and they were therefore able to influence the delivery of their service.

Appropriate checks were undertaken when new staff started working for the service. All recruitment records checked were complete and up to date.

There were systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of the service. People were given the opportunity to complete an annual customer satisfaction questionnaire. We looked at the returned questionnaires from the latest survey carried out in December 2013 and noted people had a high level of satisfaction with the service.

People were aware how they could raise any concerns and suitable arrangements were in place to respond to any complaints.

People were involved in their assessment of needs and the development of their care plan. People's views were taken into account and they were therefore able to influence the delivery of their service.

We found staff had received training on safeguarding vulnerable adults and had access to appropriate policies and procedures. Staff had an understanding of the safeguarding processes and knew how to raise an alert.

People were satisfied with the support they received with their medication and confirmed they received their medication when they needed it. Since our last inspection staff had completed a course on the safe handling of medicines.

Sufficient Staff were employed to meet the needs of people using the service. Staff were provided with appropriate training opportunities and received regular supervision.

There were effective systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of the service.