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Amber Home Care

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Somerset Barn, The Old Redhouse Farm, Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Near Radstock, Somerset, BA3 4QE (01761) 412011

Provided and run by:
Amber Home Care Ltd

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

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 18 October 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by one inspector 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.

services

Service and service type

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

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 09 September and ended on 23 September. We visited the office location on 10 and 11 September to review records, meet with the providers and provide feedback.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection and the statutory notifications received. We sought feedback from professionals who work with the service and received no responses. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service and one relative by telephone about their experience of the care provided. We met and spoke with six members of staff. These included the nominated individual, registered manager, deputy manager, co-ordinator and two care workers. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We visited three people in their own homes.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We contacted the remaining six care staff but received no responses.

We received information from the service to confirm the safeguarding policy and procedure had been updated.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 18 October 2019

About the service

Amber Home Care is a domiciliary care service providing care and support for people living in their own homes. 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 inspection 32 people were receiving personal care.

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

People were happy and complimentary of the service they received. One person commented “There are carers and there are carers … these are people who do their job because they want to and not because they have to … all the girls are lovely.”

Staff were safely recruited and undertook the relevant training to do their jobs properly. They were supervised in their practice and the staff team consisted of new and long-standing members of staff who knew people well.

The service had experienced some staffing issues with unplanned and planned leave. The registered manager and deputy manager were covering care visits to manage the shortfall. They were actively recruiting for more staff.

People and their relatives were involved in planning people’s care. People’s choices and preferences were respected. People were supported to ensure they maintained other health care appointments.

People were kept safe by staff who had a good understanding of what abuse was. People received their medicines on time.

People were protected from risks which had been assessed and recorded. Staff undertook good infection control procedures.

People were supported to eat nutritious meals where this was part of their care package.

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.

The registered manager maintained an oversight of the service. They knew each person and their families well. People were complimentary of the service and had confidence in the registered manager to lead the service. One person said, “A good consistent service … it’s very odd if anything goes wrong … you have a nice personal service, very friendly.”

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 8 November 2016).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.