Skyline Home Care Services

Skyline Home Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 37 people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of the regulations. The provider did need more time to embed their governance systems, and we were satisfied the provider was making progress with this.

People were kept safe and staff understood how to mitigate any potential risks. Medicines were safely administered and people received them when they needed them. Staff had plentiful supplies of personal protective equipment [PPE]. Staff arrived on time for care calls, and were recruited safely.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Care plans were personalised, reflecting people’s histories as well as their likes and dislikes. The complaints procedure was clear and people knew how to raise any concerns.

Management was a visible presence and was accessible to people, their relatives and staff. The provider worked in partnership with others to ensure continuity of care for people using the service.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 26 January 2022).

The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 19 November 2021. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve person centred care, safe care and treatment, good governance and fit and proper persons employed.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Skyline Home Care Services on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation in relation to staffing.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Skyline Home Care Service is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 36 people aged 65 and over at the time of the inspection. The service supports people in their own homes. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care, and this was the case for all of the 36 people. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Some risk assessments were missing from care plans. This meant that there was a lack of guidance for staff in relation to specific health conditions.

Recruitment processes were not always robust to ensure the registered manager had a full picture and whether a potential employee was suitable for the role.

End of life care plans had not been considered and there was very little personal history detail or information about people’s hobbies and interests.

Some audits were completed, however, overarching quality audits had not been completed. Some audits that had been completed and not identified issues found during the inspection.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and relatives spoke positively about the staff and registered manager. People felt supported with every area of their care and relatives felt that people were safe.

People and relatives told us staff were kind and caring and respectful of their privacy and understood equality and diversity.

Staff completed a thorough induction process and then regular training afterwards. Staff felt supported by the registered manager and they knew their roles and responsibilities within the service.

The registered manager supported staff with staff meetings and regular supervisions. They also involved people and relatives by regularly making contact to follow up on any concerns or complaints.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 03 January 2020).

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

Follow up

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

Skyline Home Care Services offers domiciliary care for people living in their own homes in the Leatherhead and surrounding area. On the day of our inspection 11 people were receiving a personal care service. The CQC only inspects services where people receive personal care which is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where services offer personal care, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People's experience of using this service

People told us staff were caring and kind. Staff's commitment and knowledge enabled people to receive care and support from staff who knew them well.

The registered manager worked with GPs and other healthcare professions to ensure the service responded to people's changing needs safely and effectively. People's care was personalised and matched their needs, which promoted their wellbeing and improved their quality of life.

The registered manager continually looked for ways to improve people's lives. The culture at the service was positive, and the team was caring. This had resulted in the provision of compassionate and personalised care. The service had a clear management and staffing structure in place. Staff worked well as a team and had a sense of pride working at the service. The provider had quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service.

People received safe care from skilled and knowledgeable staff. People told us they felt safe receiving care from the service. Staff fully understood their responsibilities to identify and report any concerns. The provider had safe recruitment and selection processes in place.

Risks to people's safety and well-being were managed through a risk management process. There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs and people told us staff were punctual. Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the procedures in the service supported this practice. People were supported to maintain good health and to meet their nutritional needs.

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

Why we inspected:

This service was registered with us on 31/12/2018 and this is the first inspection.

This inspection was part of our scheduled plan of visiting services to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care.

Further inspections will be planned for future dates.