Background to this inspection
Updated
6 November 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 25, 26, 27 and 28 September 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider short notice of the inspection visit because Northamptonshire Office is a small service and the management team are often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in the office. The inspection visit was carried out by one inspector.
The inspection started on 25 September and ended on 28 September 2018. It included telephone interviews with people using the service, relatives and staff. We visited the office location on 26 September 2018 to meet with the management team and to review care records, policies and procedures and visited people in their homes on the 27 September 2018.
Due to technical problems the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. This is the information we require providers to send us as least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and the improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements within this report.
We reviewed other information we held about the service. This included notifications regarding important events which the provider must tell us about. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally required to tell us about within required timescales. We contacted the local authority/ who commission packages of care for people and Healthwatch Northamptonshire to obtain their views about the care provided at the service.
During the inspection we spoke with four people using the service and five relatives. We spoke with four members of care staff, a care coordinator, a care manager, the deputy manager and the registered manager.
We looked at care records in relation to six people using the service. We looked at three staff recruitment files and staff training records. We looked at records that showed how the provider managed and monitored the quality of service. These included unannounced spot checks records, audits, complaints, compliments, incident reports and a sample of the provider’s policies and procedures.
Updated
6 November 2018
This inspection took place on 25, 26, 27 and 28 September 2018 and was announced. It was the first inspection since the provider registered on 6 March 2017.
Northamptonshire Office is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care, to adults in their own homes in the community. It is registered to provide a service to younger adults, older people, people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, people with a physical disability and people with dementia.
Not everyone using Northamptonshire Office receives a regulated activity. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with 'personal care'; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection it was confirmed that 16 people using the service received 'personal care’.
A registered manager was 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.
People were protected from the risk of harm. Staff had been trained in safeguarding people and understood how to report any concerns of abuse. Risks to people's safety were assessed to ensure they were effectively managed.
The provider had systems in place to assess and identify the support people required before receiving care. People received care from staff that had the skills and knowledge to meet their needs. People confirmed that staff respected people's individuality and enabled them to express their wishes and make choices for themselves.
People were treated with kindness, compassion, dignity and respect. Their rights to privacy and freedom of choice were fully upheld. The provider was committed to ensuring they had the right staff with the right approach and understanding to meet people's individual needs.
People’s assessments and care plans considered people's values, beliefs, hobbies and interests along with their goals for the future. Care plans and risk assessments were reviewed regularly. The management team had committed to ensuring continuity of support to people while they recruited new staff. The management team regularly supported people with personal care.
The management team and staff understood the importance of working in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) and people's consent was gained before staff provided people with their care. The provider needed to make improvements to ensure that best interest decisions were recorded if appropriate.
The provider had procedures in place to respond to people's concerns. People felt comfortable approaching the management team with a complaint and were confident that concerns or complaints would be appropriately responded to.
Further improvements had been identified by the provider in relation to the electronic system used to plan staff rotas to improve accessibility and reliability for the people receiving care and staff members.
The provider had systems and processes in place to monitor the quality of the service. The provider had recognised the need to further develop these as the business grew to ensure it continued to meet its regulatory requirements.