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Archived: Newcross Healthcare Solutions Limited (Plymouth)

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

2 Buckland House, 12 William Prance Road, Plymouth, Devon, PL6 5WR (01752) 395009

Provided and run by:
Newcross Healthcare Solutions Limited

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

26,28,29 September and 5 October 2015

During a routine inspection

The inspection took place on 26, 28, 29 September and 5 October 2015 and was announced. The provider was given notice because the location was a domiciliary care agency and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. We also gave notice to enable the agency to arrange home visits with people’s consent.

Newcross Healthcare Solutions Limited (Plymouth) provides a personal and nursing care service to people living in their own home. On the day of the inspection 13 people were supported by the agency with personal care and / or nursing care.

The service had 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.

Care records contained information that described what staff needed to do to provide personalised care and support. Staff responded quickly to people’s change in needs. Where appropriate friends, relatives and health and social care professionals were involved in identifying people’s needs. People’s preferences, life histories, disabilities and abilities were taken into account, communicated and recorded.

People’s risks were managed well and monitored. Professionals and families confirmed people were safe and well looked after. Policies and procedures were in place and understood by staff to help protect people and keep them safe.

People were encouraged and supported to maintain a healthy balanced diet. Staff had received specialised training to support people who had complex dietary needs.

People had their medicines managed safely and received their medicines as prescribed. Staff had received specialised training to support people have their medicines when they were unable to have these orally.

People, friends, relatives and staff were encouraged to be involved and help drive continuous improvements. The registered manager regular met with families and professionals to ensure they were happy with the care being provided. This helped ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service.

The service sought feedback from people and encouraged people to share their concerns and complaints. The registered manager confirmed that complaints were investigated thoroughly and the outcome would be used as an opportunity for learning to take place.

People were kept safe and protected from discrimination. All staff had undertaken training on safeguarding from abuse and equality and diversity. Staff displayed good knowledge on how to report any concerns and described what action they would take to protect people against harm.

Staff had received appropriate training in the Mental Capacity Act. Staff displayed a good understanding of the requirements of the act, which had been followed in practice.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs. People we met had bespoke packages of care and staff. Staff were appropriately trained and had the correct skills to carry out their roles effectively. Health professionals confirmed “Carers are individually trained and skilled in more complex areas of care, such as care of PEG, tracheostomy care, non-invasive suction and end of life care” and “I am very impressed with the skills staff have. They had managed a young, fully ventilated patient at home for several years, dealing with all aspects of his tracheostomy, poor communication, total lack of movement and all the emotional and social aspects of his life.”

The service followed safe recruitment practices to help ensure staff were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. An induction, regular supervision and competency checks supported staff and helped ensure a high quality of care was provided. Staff described the management as very open, supportive and approachable. Staff talked positively about their jobs and felt motivated to provide quality care.

There were excellent quality assurance systems in place to help drive improvements and ensure positive progress was made in the delivery of care and support provided by the service. Information technology was used to make care more individualised and keep staff abreast of changes within the organisation and current research. Feedback from professionals about the leadership at Newcross was outstanding  “Exceptionally good management. I often ring (X), the registered manager to discuss issues about patients and how we might address them. She has always looked to do the best for our motor neurone disease (MND) patients. She fully appreciates their complexity.”

5, 6, 9 September 2013

During a routine inspection

The people we met told us they were treated with respect and dignity. They told us they felt involved in all aspects of their care provision from assessment through to on-going reviews of their care. The people we met had signed, individualised care plans in their homes and felt well cared for by the staff.

We found during our visit that staff understood the principles of consent to treatment and respected people's individual choices. We saw this throughout our visit to Newcross in the documents we reviewed and the people we spoke with. Care was planned and delivered according to people's individual needs and care plans.

We found the staff we met were well trained, felt supported and were happy and confident in their roles. Staff were encouraged to attend a variety of training, had regular one to one support from their senior colleagues and we saw staff supporting and training each other in complex care tasks.

There was a thorough complaints policy in place although the people we met told us they had no complaints. We reviewed some complaints which had been received and found the policy had been followed and the complainants were happy with the outcome of the investigations and changes which had occurred as a result of their complaints.

27 February 2013

During a routine inspection

As part of this inspection, we used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people using the service. This included reviewing records, discussions with staff, including the manager and a relative. This helped us to understand the care and support that people received.

People's views and experiences were taken into account in the way the service was provided and delivered in relation to their care. Discussions and records that we looked at during the inspection showed us that staff supported people to make their own choices.

People experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights. Care plans were person centred and documented people's wishes in relation to how their care was provided.

People who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. We spoke with staff and staff demonstrated an understanding of safeguarding and the different forms of abuse.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive.

We saw the providers compliment records. One record we saw stated, "My deep gratitude goes to carers at Newcross for the compassion shown to my X during the difficult struggle at the end of life.' Another relative said "I would highly recommend Newcross to others.'