Belong at Home Newcastle-under-Lyme

Updated 19 June 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:

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type:

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:

Inspection site visit activity started on 22 May 2019 and was unannounced. We visited the office location to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. After the inspection we spoke to people, their relatives and staff on the telephone.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service to help us formulate our inspection plan. We looked at the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a document we ask the provider to complete to give us key information about the service, such as what it does well and any improvements they plan to make. We looked at notifications. Notifications are sent to us by the provider, as required by law to tell us about events that have occurred such deaths, serious injuries and safeguarding concerns.

During the inspection we spoke with two people who used the service and two relatives, two members of staff, the general manager, the registered manager and the practice development facilitator. We looked at three care records and records relating to the management of the service including, policies and procedures, audits and staff recruitment files.

Updated 19 June 2019

About the service:

Belong at Home is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care for people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, ten people were in receipt of personal care support.

People’s experience of using this service:

Medicines were not always managed safely. The service had implemented systems to improve this practice.

People were supported by a team of suitably skilled staff who knew how to manage people’s risks to keep them safe. Staff had received safeguarding training and knew how to identify and report concerns any signs or harm or abuse.

People’s needs were assessed, and care was delivered in line with people’s needs and preferences. Staff worked well with other professionals to effectively meet people’s changing needs. Staff understood the principle of consent and supported people to have maximum choice and control of their lives.

People were given choice about the way they received their care, and this was delivered by staff who were kind and caring. Staff respected people’s dignity and promoted people’s independence. People were given the opportunity to participate in reviews about their care and there was a system in place for people and staff to report complaints or issues.

The service had a new registered manager in post. There were systems in place to monitor the effectiveness of the service and there were new initiatives in place to improve and sustain the quality and safety of the service.

Rating at last inspection:

This is the first time the service has been inspected.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the date and our inspection schedule for newly registered services.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through information we receive.

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