Reedsfield Care Ltd

Updated 6 April 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

Our inspection was completed by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection. We also needed to obtain consent from people using the service to be contacted by us to obtain feedback on their experience of using the service.

The inspection activity started on 14 March 2023 by visiting the provider's office to meet with the registered manager. We then made phone calls to people using the service and their family members and inspection activity ended on 17 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we had received about the service since they registered with us, including any statutory notifications received. The provider completed a provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service to obtain their views on the care they received and 10 relatives. We spoke with the registered manager and 8 other members of staff. We reviewed a range of documents. This included the care plans for 6 people in varying detail, 10 medicines records, 6 staff files in relation to their recruitment and various other documentation relating to the running of the service, such as training and supervision records and audits.

Updated 6 April 2023

About the service

Reedsfield Care Ltd is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. The service provides support to people living with dementia and those with enduring healthcare needs. At the time of our inspection, there were 70 people receiving a service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People's experience of using this service and what we found

People were cared for by a sufficient number of staff who were given enough time to spend with people and travel time between calls, which helped them arrive on time. Staff were given sufficient guidance around people; their care needs and potential risks. This enabled them to help ensure people remained safe in their own home whilst receiving appropriate, person-centred care.

People were cared for by staff who received appropriate training. This helped ensure staff were confident and competent in their role. Staff were able to describe what they would do should they suspect a person was the subject of abuse. They were also able to tell us how they treated people with dignity, encouraged their independence and enabled people to give their consent and make their own decisions in relation to their care.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff empowered people to make own decisions about their care and support and consent was sought in line with legislation.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture (RSRCRC), as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

People were happy with the care they received from Reedsfield Care Ltd. They were given regular opportunity to feedback their views on the service and they were provided with clear information on how to make a complaint should the need arise.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 14 July 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to staff not fulfilling their contracted support hours. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of safe, effective and well-led only.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service remains good, based on the findings of this inspection.

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.