Background to this inspection
Updated
9 March 2017
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 was 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 7 and 8 February 2017 and was announced. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service such as notifications, complaints and safeguarding information. We contacted the local authority contract monitoring team and commissioning team for information about the service. We were told the local authority had undertaken a monitoring visit the week prior to our inspection visit; we were told there were no concerns raised at that time.
During the inspection, we used a number of different methods to help us understand the experiences of people who used the service. During our visit to the agency office we spoke with the manager, the regional director, the care delivery director and two field care supervisors. Following the visit we spoke with six people receiving a service and with two main carers (relatives) on the telephone. We also spoke with three support staff.
We looked at a sample of records including four people’s support plans and other associated documentation, three staff recruitment and induction records, staff rotas, training and supervision records, minutes from meetings, complaints and compliments records, medication records, policies and procedures and quality assurance audits. We also looked at the results from the customer satisfaction surveys.
Updated
9 March 2017
We carried out an inspection of Allied Healthcare Burnley on the 7 and 8 February 2017. We gave the service notice of our visit as we needed to be sure the manager was available.
Allied Healthcare Burnley is owned by Nestor Primecare Services Limited trading as SAGA Healthcare Blackburn. The agency is a domiciliary care service based in Lancashire and provides personal and nursing care and domestic services to people in their own homes. The agency office is situated on the outskirts of Burnley town centre and was staffed during the hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, with a 24-hour on-call system for emergencies. At the time of the inspection the service was providing support to 80 people.
The service did not have a registered manager in post. However an application to register the manager with the Care Quality Commission ( CQC) was completed at the time of writing this report. A registered manager is a person who has registered with CQC 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.
At the previous inspection on 3 and 4 December 2015 we found the service was not meeting all the standards assessed. We found shortfalls relating to a failure to maintain accurate records in respect of care and treatment and failure to act on findings from the quality monitoring systems. We asked the provider to take action to make improvements and to send us an action plan. During this inspection we found action had been completed and found the service was meeting the current regulations.
Prior to and following our inspection of December 2015 a number of safeguarding concerns had been raised about the care and support people were receiving, the lack of suitably experienced staff and a number of missed visits. Meetings had taken place with the local authority safeguarding team and a variety of other health and social care professionals including CQC. The agency had agreed not to accept any additional ‘care packages’ until improvements had been made. Following this there had been changes made to the management team. The management team had worked hard to make significant improvements to the standards of care and safety at the service. People were able to access services provided by the agency from June 2016.
People we spoke with told us they felt safe from abuse or harm from the staff, felt safe in their homes and considered staff were trustworthy. Safeguarding procedures were in place to guide and direct staff in reporting any concerns they had. Staff had been given training in safeguarding vulnerable adults and children and knew what to do if they suspected any abusive or neglectful practice.
People said staff were very respectful, attentive to their needs and treated them with kindness and care when providing their support. People using the service received care and support from a consistent team of staff who had been recruited safely.
There were appropriate arrangements in place to support people to take their medicines. People received their medicines as prescribed, by staff that had been trained to do this safely.
Risks to people’s health, welfare and safety were managed very well. Risk assessments were detailed and provided clear guidance for staff on how to support people safely. People knew they could contact the agency at any time and had emergency contact details for out of office hours.
Assessment of people’s needs was an on-going process which meant any changes to their care was planned for. Changes to people’s needs and requirements were communicated well which meant staff were kept up to date with these changes.
Staff understood the principles of best interest decisions’ regarding people’s care and support and people’s diversity was embraced within their care plans. Care plans focused on the needs of people using the service. People’s rights to privacy, dignity, choice and independence were considered and reflected in their care plan.
Staff were trained and supported by the manager to gain further skills and qualifications which were relevant to their work. Staff practice was closely monitored and they were subject to spot checks.
The agency provided a flexible service to meet people’s needs. Visit times were scheduled to suit personal requirements and people received care from the same team of staff. People told us staff were reliable and they never missed a visit. There were effective systems in place to monitor whether staff were attending to people as and when required and to ensure visits were never missed.
People spoken with had no complaints about the service and had opportunities to raise any issue of concern or pass on compliments about the service to the manager. People we spoke with had confidence in the manager to deal professionally with any complaint they raised.
People, their relatives and staff expressed their confidence in manager and felt the agency had improved and was well managed. Staff performance was monitored well and staff were accountable for their practice. Staff told us they enjoyed their jobs.
There were effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service, which included positive feedback from people using the service.