Archived: 18 Portland Terrace

Updated 15 June 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team: The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type: This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes up to 24 hours per day.

The service had two managers 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: We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection visit because they provide a domiciliary care service and we had to make sure staff would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 02 May 2019 and ended on 07 May 2019. We visited the office location on 02 May 2019 to see the managers and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We contacted people, relatives and staff, with prior permission, on 07 May 2019.

What we did: Prior to the inspection, the registered managers completed a Provider Information Return. This is a form that the provider must send to CQC with key information about the service, what improvements they have planned and what the service does well.

We reviewed the information that we held about the service. This included any statutory notifications received. Statutory notifications are specific pieces of information about events, which the provider is required to send to us by law.

We sought feedback from the local authority contracts monitoring and safeguarding adult's teams and reviewed the information they provided. We contacted the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), who commission services from the provider. We also contacted Healthwatch, who are the independent consumer champion for people who use health and social care services. The feedback from these parties was used in the planning of our inspection.

We spoke with three people who used service, three relatives and 10 members of staff including both registered managers. We reviewed the care records for five people, medicine records for five people and the recruitment records for five members of staff.

We looked at quality assurance audits carried out by the registered manager and the provider. We also looked at the staffing rotas, training records, meeting minutes, policies and procedures, and information related to the governance of the service.

Updated 15 June 2019

About the service: 18 Portland Terrace is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes, some who are living with complex care needs. At the time of inspection there were 232 people receiving support with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service: People and staff were fully engaged by the service and their voices were used to improve the quality of care provided. The service had people at the heart of all activities and staff were focused on supporting people to reach their maximum potential. People and their relatives were positive about the care provided.

The service was driven by a dedicated management team who created a positive and driven workforce to support people with their individual needs. People’s care records detailed how they wished to be supported and reflected their own personal choices and individuality.

The quality and assurance systems in place allowed for real time monitoring of the service and created bespoke action plans to improve the quality of care provided.

There were regular reviews of people’s care needs, in partnership with other healthcare professionals, to make sure people got the support they needed. People were involved in all aspects of their care, from their initial assessments to continuing reviews.

Medicines were managed safely and risk assessments were in place to help keep people safe. 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.

Staff continued to be recruited safely and received an in-depth induction. Staff attended regular refresher training sessions and had the opportunity for career progression.

People were supported to attend activities in the local community and maintain social relationships. Staff provided support to people receiving end of life care and people requiring support to maintain a balanced healthy diet.

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

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published September 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the previous inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through information we receive from the service, provider, the public and partnership agencies. We will re-visit the service in-line with our inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.