Background to this inspection
Updated
24 January 2019
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 19 December 2018. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because this was a small service and the registered manager may have been out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available to support the inspection.
Before the inspection, we checked for any notifications made to us by the provider and the information we held on our database about the service and provider. Statutory notifications are pieces of information about important events which took place at the service, such as safeguarding incidents, which the provider is required to send to us by law. We reviewed the Provider Information Record (PIR). The PIR provides key information about the service, what the service does well and the improvements the provider plans to make.
The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector. As part of the inspection we spoke with two staff members. At the time of the inspection two people receiving a service were not able to communicate with us to give us feedback on their care so we asked the views of their family carers who lived with them. We spoke directly with one person who was receiving a service.
We looked at care records for two people using the service. We also looked at recruitment records for two members of staff, and details of their training and supervision. We looked at provider policies, and other management documents including complaints and staff meeting records. We viewed quality audits including medicine administration records (MARs). We received feedback from one health and social care professional after the inspection.
Updated
24 January 2019
This inspection took place on 19 December 2018 and was announced.
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults living in their own homes with physical or mental health needs.
The service registered with the Care Quality Commission on 22 December 2017. This is the first inspection of the service. At the time of the inspection there were four people using the service.
The service had a registered manager in post. 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.
People and their relatives told us they were happy with the care provided, and staff were kind. Staff understood their role in safeguarding adults and were able to tell us what they would do if they had any safeguarding concerns.
Care support plans were detailed, comprehensive and up to date and provided a holistic view of people’s abilities, preferences and needs. Risk assessments were in place to guide staff and minimise harm for all identified risks.
People and their relatives told us there was a stable staff team and that care was provided by familiar carers. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and people and their relatives told us staff were on time or the office notified family members if staff were running late.
People were supported with medicines by staff who were competent to do so.
The service worked with healthcare professionals to deliver effective care and support to people.
Staff recruitment was safe and staff were supported to meet people’s needs through a combination of comprehensive induction, supervision and training. Staff meetings took place so staff were able to contribute to how the service was run and were kept informed. Staff told us they were well supported in their roles.
People were supported to have 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.
At the time of the inspection the registered manager had carried out a range of audits to check the quality of the care provided, and was working to improve others. The service learnt lessons and made improvements when things went wrong.
There was a complaints process in place and people and their relatives told us they knew how to make a complaint, and that the registered manager would respond to issues they raised.