Local Homecare

Updated 20 July 2022

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses or flats.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because the service is small and people are often out and we wanted to be sure there would be people at home to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 12 May 2022 and ended on 06 June 2022. We visited the location’s office on 24 May 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority, local safeguarding team and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people's care records and extracts from others. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including records relating to accidents, incidents and safeguarding. We also reviewed a range of policies and procedures.

We spoke with the registered manager and four members of care staff. We spoke with five people who used the service and five relatives, to better understand their experience of care provided at the service.

Updated 20 July 2022

About the service

Local Homecare is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes in the community. At the time of our inspection there were 36 people using the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. 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

People and their relatives told us they felt safe using the service. People's needs were thoroughly assessed to ensure safe and effective care. There were enough staff available to meet people's needs. People and their relatives told us staff arrived at the scheduled time and stayed for the specified period. The provider had a robust recruitment process to ensure suitable staff were employed. People were supported to take their medicines safely. Staff followed the correct infection control practices.

New staff received a comprehensive induction programme and all staff had completed a range of training which gave them the skills and knowledge to care for people in their own homes. 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.

The service was well managed. The registered manager was knowledgeable and responsive to feedback about the service. Governance systems were in place to ensure all aspects of the service were reviewed and checked regularly. However, systems to monitor accidents and incidents and lessons learnt required review.

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 18 February 2020).

At our last inspection we found two breaches of regulation in relation to medicines and good governance. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to tell us what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was now meeting both of these regulations.

Why we inspected

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services which have had a recent Direct Monitoring Approach (DMA) assessment where no further action was needed to seek assurance about this decision and to identify learning about the DMA process.

Follow up

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