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Archived: Nightingales Homecare

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Beech House, Springbank Street, Oldham, Lancashire, OL8 4LH (0161) 628 4222

Provided and run by:
Fogarty Care Services Limited

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

All Inspections

18th December 2014

During a routine inspection

This inspection was carried out by a visit to the service office on 18th December 2014 and telephone contact with staff and people who used the service in January 2015.

We last inspected Nightingales Homecare in November 2013. At that inspection we found that the service was meeting all the standards we assessed.

Nightingales Homecare provides personal care to people in their own homes. Most people who used the service were funded by the local authority, although there were some people who were privately funded. At the time of our visit there were approximately 170 people using the service and 38 care staff.

Nightingales Homecare is legally required to have a 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. The current registered manager had been in post for several years.

All the people who used the service who we spoke with were positive about the service. This included the attitude and competence of the staff and the reliability and consistency of the service.

Staff who we spoke with told us they were appropriately trained and that support from the registered manager and other members of the management team was good.

There was a range of systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and people’s satisfaction with it. These helped the service provider to assess and where necessary, to plan improvements.

We identified one area where improvement was required because the service provider was not complying with the relevant regulations. When staff are recruited to work for a domiciliary care agency there are certain checks which the service provider must undertake. These checks are listed in the relevant Regulations. The reason for those checks is to help ensure the service provider has enough information about a prospective employee to make a reasonable decision about their suitability to work with vulnerable people. Although references and DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks were obtained, other specified checks were not. This meant the service provider was not taking all the steps they needed to, to help ensure people’s safety. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.’

We contacted health and social care professionals to ascertain their views of the service. None expressed any concerns.

7, 15 November 2013

During a routine inspection

As a part of this inspection we spoke on the telephone to four people who used the service and three care workers. All reported positively about the service provided.

People using the service were treated with respect and were able to contribute to discussion about the way in which the service was provided to them. When asked if they were treated with respect one person said 'always, they are good girls and very friendly' and another said 'definitely, we get on really well'.

People receiving the service had a written plan of care which was periodically reviewed and amended if necessary.

People using the service told us they felt safe with the care workers provided by the service. Care workers were confident they would report any concerns or allegations and that the service provider would deal with them appropriately.

Sufficient staff were provided to ensure service continuity. Staff had access to training to help ensure they were competent to undertake the tasks expected of them.

There were appropriate quality monitoring and auditing processes to help the service provide consistent care of a good quality.

24, 28 January 2013

During a routine inspection

Following our unannounced visit to the offices of Nightingales Homecare we spoke on the telephone, to four people who received the service and three care workers.

People who used the service were provided with a written plan of care to which they were able to contribute. Care workers were aware of the care plans and could also contribute to them.

Where people were assisted with medication this was done by care workers who were appropriately trained in that task.

Thorough recruitment of care workers was undertaken to help ensure that only people who would not pose a risk to vulnerable people were appointed.

The service had a complaints procedure and people felt confident that any complaint they may have would be listened to and dealt with.