Background to this inspection
Updated
20 February 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:
One inspector carried out the inspection.
Service and service type:
Cambridgeshire Homecare is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to both older and younger adults, and children.
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:
We told the provider four days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because we wanted to speak with people who use the service and staff, prior to visiting the service.
What we did:
Before our inspection we looked at all the information we held about the service including notifications. A notification is information about events that the registered persons are required, by law, to tell us about. The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used this information to assist with planning the inspection.
We asked for feedback from the commissioners of people’s care, representatives from the local authority and Healthwatch Cambridge. On 17 January 2019 we spoke with seven people who used the service and two of their relatives. We also spoke with three care workers. These people’s views helped us to plan our inspection.
During our inspection visit on 18 January 2019 we spoke with the provider’s representative (referred to in this report as ‘the provider’), the registered manager, the deputy manager, a service manager and a branch manager. We looked at four people’s care records. We also looked at other files in relation to the management of the service. These included two staff recruitment and training records, complaints and compliments records, and records relating to the systems for monitoring the quality of the service.
After our inspection, between 18 January 2019 and 5 February 2019, we received feedback via email and telephone calls from external healthcare professionals. These included, two social workers, a further commissioner, a community support co-ordinator, and a dietician.
Updated
20 February 2019
About the service:
¿ Cambridgeshire Homecare is a domiciliary care agency.
¿ The agency office is in Peterborough. Care is provided in the Peterborough, Wisbech, Ely, Soham and the surrounding areas.
¿ It provides personal care to both older and younger adults living in their own houses and flats. It also provides a service to children.
¿ At the time of our inspection, no children received the regulated activity personal care and therefore we did not inspect this aspect of the service.
¿ There were 114 adults receiving personal care at the time of our inspection.
People’s experience of using this service:
¿ People were protected from avoidable harm by a staff team trained and confident to recognise and report any concerns. Potential risks to people were assessed and minimised.
¿ There were enough staff to ensure people’s needs were met safely and in a timely manner.
¿ People were supported to manage their prescribed medicines by staff who were trained and had been assessed as competent to administer medicines.
¿ Staff followed the provider’s procedures to prevent the spread of infection and reduce the risk of cross contamination.
¿ Staff knew the people they cared for well and understood, and met, their needs.
¿ People received care from staff who were trained and well supported to meet people’s assessed needs.
¿ Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink.
¿ Staff supported people to access external healthcare services to help maintain their health and well-being.
¿ 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. People were fully involved in making decisions about their care and support. However, decisions had not always been clearly recorded.
¿ People and their relatives were involved in the setting up and review of their or their family member’s individual support and care plans.
¿ Staff were kind, caring and friendly. Staff respected and promoted people’s privacy, dignity and independence.
¿ People’s individual needs were assessed and staff used this information to deliver personalised care that met people’s needs.
¿ Staff supported well at the end of their lives.
¿ Staff worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure that people received care that met their needs.
¿ People’s suggestions and complaints were listened to, investigated, and acted upon to reduce the risk of recurrence.
¿ The registered manager sought feedback from people about the quality of the service provided.
¿ Audits and quality monitoring checks were carried out to help drive improvements.
Rating at last inspection:
¿ The service had been operating for a number of years, but this was the first inspection following a change of provider on 1 December 2017.
Why we inspected:
¿ This was a planned inspection following registration with Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Follow up:
¿ We will continue to monitor all information we receive about the service and schedule the next inspection accordingly.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk