Archived: Home is where the heart is - Homecare

With their permission, we visited one person in their home. We noted that the care plan kept at the person's home was the current one. There was also information for people about the service, including how to make a complaint.

People's needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. The provider told us that they always carried out the first few shifts when they delivered care to a new person.This was to ensure that they understood the way in which people wanted to be supported, not just what needed to be done, so this could be passed on to staff. This helped ensure that person centred care was delivered.

There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. The agency had expanded since our previous inspection in March 2013 and had taken on an additional 5 staff members, all of whom had 12/18 months previous experience of domiciliary care work.

The provider visited people frequently to assess the standard of care provided. However, these visits needed to be recorded.

Consent was obtained before care and support was provided and on the odd occasion that this wasn't possible then 'best interests' decisions were made.

Care plans were adequate and risk assessments were in place. Step by step guidance was available for staff in several areas in staff handbooks, for example how to carry out personal care in differing circumstances.

The agency had expanded by taking on more staff. However, formal induction training had not been arranged for two new members of staff, both of whom had joined within the seven weeks prior to our visit. References had not been returned for them when we visited, but the provider rectified this quickly.