Archived: R.A. Homecare

Updated 4 December 2021

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 Care Act 2014.

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 and flats.

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. In this service the provider was also the registered manager.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 22 October 2021 and ended on 12 November 2021. We visited the office location on 22 October 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it became registered with CQC. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff including the provider and care staff.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data, policies and quality assurance records. We spoke with a professional who regularly works alongside the service.

Updated 4 December 2021

About the service

R.A. Homecare is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting seven people with a variety of health needs and some people living with dementia. 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 told us they felt safe being supported by R.A. Homecare. There were enough staff in place to meet people's needs. People were safeguarded against the risk of abuse and supported by a consistent staff team who understood their needs well.

Detailed assessments of people's needs were carried out before they started to receive care and support. Staff were provided with appropriate training and supervision for their role. Referrals were made to health and social care professionals appropriately when people's needs changed.

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 reflective of people’s needs, including the support they needed with their healthcare, medicines, nutrition and personal care. Staff were committed to supporting people to keep as much independence as possible and treated people with dignity and respect.

People received personalised care and the service worked flexibly in order to meet people's needs. Staff said they had enough time to meet people's care and support needs and any complaints were responded to promptly with actions followed up in a timely way.

Feedback from people and their relatives about the way the service was managed was positive and staff told us they were well supported. There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service and the provider was committed to ongoing improvement in the future.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 24 January 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not been previously inspected.

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.