Background to this inspection
Updated
11 May 2016
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 21 April 2016 and was announced. 48 hours’ notice of the inspection was given because the service was small and the registered manager was often out of the office supporting staff. We needed them to be available during the inspection. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Before the inspection, we looked at reports and notifications about important events that had taken place at the service, which the provider is required to tell us by law.
We spoke to one person about their experience of the service. We spoke with the registered manager to gain their views about the service.
We spent time looking at records, policies and procedures, complaint and incident and accident monitoring systems. We looked at two people’s care files, one staff file, the staff training programme and medicine records.
At the previous inspection on 20 September 2013, the service had met the standards of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.
Updated
11 May 2016
This inspection took place on 21 April 2016 and was announced.
Active Care Professionals care agency provides care services to people in their own homes mainly in the Medway area. The care they provided was tailored to people’s needs so that people could maintain or regain their independence. This included older people who had been discharged from hospital who needed help with day to day tasks like cooking, shopping, washing and dressing and help to maintain their health and wellbeing. At the time of our inspection, there were two people using the service assessed as low risk in terms of the care they needed.
There was a registered manager employed 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 care was predominantly delivered by one member of staff who was also the owner and registered manager of the service. They had the support of one part time member of staff. People spoke about the staff in a positive light regarding their feelings of being safe and well cared for. They thought that staff were caring and compassionate. Staff were trusted and well thought of by the people they cared for.
The registered manager assessed people’s needs and planned people’s care to maintain their safety, health and wellbeing. Risks were assessed by staff to protect people. There were systems in place to monitor incidents and accidents.
Staff had received training about protecting people from abuse. Procedures for reporting any concerns were in place. The registered manager knew how and when they should escalate concerns following the local authorities safeguarding protocols.
Staff had received training about the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and understood when and how to support peoples best interest if they lacked capacity to make certain decisions about their care.
Working in community settings staff often had to work on their own, but they were provided with good support and an ‘Outside Office Hours’ number to call during evenings and at weekends if they had concerns about people. The service could continue to run in the event of emergencies arising so that people’s care would continue. For example, when there was heavy snow or if there was a power failure at the main office.
Staff were recruited safely and had been through a selection process that ensured they were fit to work with people who needed safeguarding. Recruitment policies were in place that had been followed. Safe recruitment practices included background and criminal records checks prior to staff starting work.
There was an up to date policy about the safe administration of medicines. Staff had been trained to administer medicines safely. Staff followed guidance about supporting people to eat and drink enough. Care plans were kept reviewed and updated.
The registered manager had daily contact with people when delivering care. They had a clear quality based vision of the service they wanted to provide and understood how to achieve this. There were policies in place, which ensured people would be listened to and treated fairly if they complained. Audits were effective and risks were monitored by the registered manager to keep people safe. The registered manager ensured that people’s care met their most up to date needs and any issues raised were dealt with to people’s satisfaction.