8 August 2017
During a routine inspection
The inspection took place on 8, 9, 15 and 16 August 2017 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. We did this to ensure key staff would be available at the service. This was the service’s first inspection and rating.
At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 15 people living in their own homes.
There was 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 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
We found a number of breaches of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.
People were not always protected against the risks of neglect associated with missed visits and late visits. The system used to monitor this was not safe.
Staff were not provided with the appropriate training to help them meet the needs of people who used the service. We could not be certain that the manual handling techniques used for providing care or treatment to people were effective. Staff’s ongoing competence in using manual techniques and equipment had not been assessed by a trained person assessed as competent.
We found that the service had systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of service. However, they were not always effective. We identified areas that require improvement, which were not picked up by the quality assurance processes.
Staff were knowledgeable about recognising the signs of abuse. All staff had received training in safeguarding adults.
Medicines were administered to people safely by staff that had been trained.
The registered manager carried out pre-employment checks on staff before they worked with people to assess their suitability.
The service was meeting the requirements of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Staff had received appropriate training, and had a good understanding of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
Staff received induction and training. Staff had supervision meetings which were held to support them in their role.
People were involved in planning their own care. They had been consulted to ensure their care records reflected their own views and opinions. Care records were reviewed with people and they had also been provided with sufficient information about the service.
People were happy with the care they received and felt the staff were caring. Staff we spoke with demonstrated they were aware of people’s individual needs and understood their preferences.