Background to this inspection
Updated
30 November 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 13 November 2018 and was unannounced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is a small service and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available for the inspection.
Inspection site visit activity started on 13 November and ended on 16 November 2018. It included speaking with people who used the service and staff who worked at Radfield Home Care. We visited the office location on 13 November 2018 to see the manager and director; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector.
Before our inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about Radfield Home Care. This included notifications we had received from the registered provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people who used the service. We also accessed the Provider Information Return (PIR) we received prior to our inspection. This is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This provided us with information and numerical data about the operation of the service. We also contacted the local authority commissioning team. We used this information to populate our planning tool. This is a document which helps us plan how the inspection should be carried out.
We spoke with four people who received support, the manager, the director and three care staff. We received feedback from healthcare professionals who had worked with the service. We looked at care plans for five people and other related records. We checked the recruitment files for four staff. We also looked at other documentation associated to the running of the service.
Updated
30 November 2018
The inspection took place on 13 November 2018 was announced.
This was the first rated inspection for Radfield Home Care. The service has been registered for almost 12 months and has been providing personal care since January 2018.
Radfield Home Care 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. At the time of the inspection
20 people were using the service.
Not everyone using Radfield Home Care receives regulated activity; Care Quality Commission 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.
There was no registered manager at the service. 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 in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The last manager had left in July 2018. The current manager had been in the post for seven weeks and had started the process to be the registered manager.
Staff had been appropriately recruited to ensure they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults. There was enough staff employed by the service to help people with their day to day support needs at the times they wanted.
There were systems and processes in place to ensure that people who lived received a service were safeguarded from abuse. This included training for staff. Staff we spoke with confirmed they knew how to raise concerns.
There was a process for recording, reporting and analysing incidents, accidents and general near misses to determine what could be improved within the service provision.
Risk assessments and support plans had been completed for everyone who received care to help ensure people's needs were met and to protect people from the risk of harm.
There was personal protective equipment (PPE) available for use, such as gloves and aprons. Staff confirmed they had good supplies of gloves and aprons when supporting people with personal care.
The service supported people with medication. Medication was administered by staff who had the correct training to enable them to do this. Records were kept in line with current guidance.
The service was operating in accordance with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and consent was sought in line with people's best interests. 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 support this practice.
Staff received training to enable them to support people safely and training records confirmed this. Staff engaged in regular supervision with their manager.
People were treated as individuals, and their choices and preferences were respected by staff.
People's care plans were person centred and contained details about the person, their likes, dislikes, how they wanted to be supported and what they could do for themselves.
People's dietary needs were managed with reference to individual preferences and choice.
There was a complaints process in place which. There had been no complaints since the service started providing support.
A quality assurance system was in place; on-going audits and checks were completed to ensure standards were monitored effectively.
Checks were made to people who used the service by telephone or in person to ensure the care was safe and was meeting people's needs.
The service worked in partnership with other professionals such as the local authorities, and district nurses.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.