Archived: Lancaster

Updated 25 July 2020

The Inspection:

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.

Inspection team:

Consisted of an adult social care inspector.

Service and service type:

This domiciliary service provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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:

The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provided a domiciliary care service to people who lived in the community. We needed to be sure that we could access the office premises and speak with people.

This comprehensive inspection visit took place on 24th April 2019 and was announced. The Inspection site visit activity started on 24 April 2019 and ended on 24 April 2019. We visited the office location on 24 April 2019 to see the registered manager; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before our inspection we completed our planning tool and reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service and previous inspection reports.

We also checked to see if any information concerning the care and welfare of people supported by the service had been received. We contacted the local contracts commissioning department. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced accessing the service.

As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with a range of people about the service they included eight people who used the service, four relatives and eight staff members. In addition, we spoke with the registered manager and two members of the management team.

We looked at records related to the management of the service. We did this to ensure the management team had oversight of the service and they could respond to any concerns highlighted or lead the agency in ongoing improvements. We also looked at staffing levels, training records and recruitment procedures for staff.

Updated 25 July 2020

About the service:

This service is registered as a domiciliary care service providing personal care for people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and older people. At the time of the inspection the service supported 21 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

People who used the service told us they were treated well, cared for and encouraged to be as independent as possible.

People’s care and support needs had been planned in partnership with them. People felt consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered in their home.

We found by talking with staff and people who used the service staffing levels matched each person’s requirements to maintain continuity of care. People we spoke with confirmed this.

People told us service staffing levels matched each person’s requirements to maintain continuity of care.

Care plan information focused on a person-centred method of supporting people.

Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required.

People received personalised care that was responsive to their needs and preferences. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

Staff had been recruited safely, appropriately trained and supported. People told us their visits were well managed and staff who visited them knew and met their care needs.

People were supported to have access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs had been met. The service worked in partnership with other organisations to ensure they followed good practice and people in their care were safe.

Procedures were in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take necessary action as required. People told us they had no concerns about their safety whilst in the care of staff supporting them.

The service had a complaints procedure which was made available to people and family members. People told us they were happy with their service.

The service used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included regular audits and visits to people’s homes by the management team to seek people’s views about the service provided.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first inspection of the service since they registered with CQC.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned first inspection of the service.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk