Archived: Focus on Care

Updated 9 August 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

This inspection was conducted by an inspector and Expert by Experience. The inspector visited the office to review records and the Expert by Experience spoke to people on the phone to seek their views about the care they received. 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.

The service had a manager in process of registering with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they, when registered, 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

Our planning took into account information we held about the service. Since the last inspection there had not been any incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse or serious injury.

We used the information the provider sent us in the 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. This information helps support our inspections.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection, we spoke with one person who used the service and three relatives. We spoke with the manager, the senior manager and four members of staff. We looked at three people’s care records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision records.

Multiple records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider were reviewed during and after the inspection.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the manager to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, policies and quality assurance records.

Updated 9 August 2019

About the service

Focus on Care is a care at home service providing personal and nursing care to 48 people at the time of the inspection.

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

People told us they received safe care and treatment. Staff undertook risk assessments for people they supported and identified risks were managed well. Care staff understood the importance of safeguarding people they supported, and they knew how to report accidents and incidents.

Staff had completed training in the safe administration of medicines. People were encouraged to maintain their independence and protocols were in place to support self-administration of medicines.

People told us staff visited as planned and they were punctual. The manager had processes for monitoring visits and were planning to roll out new visit monitoring technology to enable the provider to monitor whether staff visited as planned.

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 liaised with health care professionals and supported people to attend appointments. People were supported to make healthy choices in relation to life style. People told us staff helped them to prepare meals and collect their groceries.

Staff received training which enabled them to provide safe and effective care. The manager observed staff in practice every three months. Staff received regular supervision from their line manager and told us they felt supported.

People and their relatives understood how to make a complaint. People told us they felt listened to. There had not been any complaints since the last inspection.

There was information available throughout people’s support plans which enabled staff to provide person-centred care. People and their representatives had been involved in the care planning process.

The manager maintained clear records of quality assurance and good governance. People and their relatives provided consistent positive feedback about the management team.

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 September 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.