Right at Home Barnet and Edgware

Right at Home Barnet and Edgware is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to adults, some of whom live with dementia and/or may have a sensory impairment or physical disability. It is a franchisee of Right at Home UK.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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. At the time of the inspection there were thirteen people receiving assistance with their personal care.

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

Systems were in place to safeguard people from abuse and to make sure people were treated with respect and dignity.

People told us that they were treated well by staff and felt safe when receiving care and support. They had the office contact details and were confident that any concerns they raised would be dealt with appropriately and quickly.

Risks to people's safety were assessed and personalised guidance minimised the risk of people being harmed.

People and relatives told us that there had been no issues with punctuality or missed care calls.

People made decisions about their care. Their care plans were up to date and personalised.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager and other staff supported people to access healthcare services. They worked well with healthcare and social care professionals to provide people with effective care and support.

Staff participated in the regular COVID-19 testing and vaccination programme.

There were quality assurance systems in place to identify and address any shortfalls and to make improvements to the service.

People and their relatives were provided with a range of opportunities to feedback about their experience of the service.

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 12 June 2018).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to medicines, infection control, staff training, and management. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the key questions of Safe, Effective and Well-led only.

We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key question. We therefore did not inspect these. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service remains good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Right at Home Barnet and Edgware on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information, we may inspect sooner.

Right at Home Barnet and Edgware is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to adults, some of whom live with dementia and/or may have a sensory impairment or physical disability.

Not everyone using Right at Home Barnet and Edgware received regulated activity; the Care Quality Commission (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 the inspection there were nine people receiving assistance with their personal care.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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. Approximately two weeks after the inspection we were informed that the registered manager had left the service. The managing director told us that they were in the process of recruiting a new manager and until then he and another director would be managing and running the service.

People using the service and their relatives informed us that they were happy with the care and the other services that they received. People received consistency of care from staff that they knew.

People told us that staff were caring and reliable and always respected their dignity and privacy. Staff knew the importance of respecting people’s differences and human rights.

People told us that staff treated them with respect and they felt safe when staff supported them with their care and other tasks. Arrangements were in place to keep people safe. The service had a safeguarding policy and procedure. Staff knew how to identify abuse and understood their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding people and reporting concerns.

Risks to people’s safety and from their home environment were identified and guidance was in place to minimise the risk of people and staff being harmed. Arrangements were in place to make sure medicines were managed safely and people received their medicines as prescribed.

The organisation carried out appropriate checks to reduce the risk of employing staff that were not suitable to work with people using the service.

There were enough staff in place with the right skills mix to meet people's needs. The provider made sure that care staff were compatible with the people they cared for. Staff understood the importance of obtaining people’s consent before supporting them with personal care and other tasks.

People and where applicable their relatives were fully involved in making decisions about people’s care. Staff listened to people, respected the choices they made and supported people’s independence.

People, who received support with their meals, had their nutritional needs and their individual dietary preferences and needs assessed and met. The service liaised closely with healthcare and social care professionals to make sure people’s needs were met.

People were consulted about their care. Their care plans were person centred and included detailed information about people’s care needs and preferences, so staff had the information they needed about how best to support them.

People and their relatives had opportunities to feedback about the service and were confident that any issues they raised would be addressed.

Staff received training and learning which was relevant to their role. They received on going support through supervision and day to day contact with management. Staff performance and their development were regularly reviewed. Staff were encouraged to contribute ideas and suggestions about improving and developing working practices and other areas of the service.

There were a range of systems in place to check, monitor and develop the service. Action was taken to make improvements when deficiencies were identified. People and their relatives told us they thought the service was well run and would recommend it.