Background to this inspection
Updated
17 July 2020
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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It 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
We gave the registered manager 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 14 February 2020 and ended on 15 June 2020. We visited the office location on 14 February 2020 and contacted people and care staff by telephone and email to gather their views between 19 February 2020 and 19 March 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed the information we held about the service including feedback from the local authority and notifications of significant events the registered manager had sent to us. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with the registered manager and reviewed a range of records including the care records for three people and four staff files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the service.
After the inspection
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic we were not able to return to the office to gather further evidence. We asked the registered manager to provide additional evidence by email and we received email feedback from a range of professionals who worked with the service.
Updated
17 July 2020
About the service
Westmorland Homecare Temporary Office provides personal care to people in their own homes in Kendal, South Lakeland and the surrounding areas. 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. At the time of our inspection 91 people were receiving personal care.
The service was previously located at another address in Kendal. The provider temporarily relocated to a new office while building work was carried out on their main office.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were exceptionally safe. The provider had extremely robust and innovative systems which made people feel very safe. The staff were exceptionally well-trained in protecting people from abuse. Risks were managed creatively to keep people safe and promote their quality of life. People and their families were involved in decisions about their safety to the maximum possible extent and people’s choices were respected. There were always enough staff to support people. People were actively involved in decisions about who would provide their care and who the company employed. Medicines were very well managed and people experienced positive outcomes which took account of their wishes and improved the quality of their lives. People were very well protected from the risk of infection, including during the Coronavirus pandemic.
People experienced very positive outcomes because they were supported by staff who were exceedingly well trained and exceptionally skilled. There was a truly holistic approach to assessing, planning and delivering care. People’s care was planned and delivered in line with best practice. The provider used creative and innovative means to support people to maintain a balanced diet and to drink enough to maintain good health. The registered manager had excellent links with local healthcare services. The staff were proactive at identifying people’s health needs and ensuring they had timely access to appropriate healthcare support. The registered manager was very knowledgeable about how to protect people’s rights, especially people who did not have capacity to make their own decisions. 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 were exceptionally complimentary about how caring the staff were. The staff valued the people they cared for. They routinely ‘went the extra mile’ to enhance people’s lives. The provider carefully matched people with staff that had similar interests and personalities. This supported people to build strong, meaningful and trusting relationships with the staff. The staff and registered manager supported people to express their views about what was important to them and people received care in a way that took account of their wishes and preferences. The staff respected people’s privacy and promoted their dignity and independence. They supported people to regain skills and confidence to carry out tasks themselves. People’s human rights, equality and diversity were very important to the service. The staff were supported to understand their responsibilities and to challenge any poor practice they identified.
The service was exceptionally person-centred and responsive to people’s needs. The staff thoroughly explored people’s background and life history to understand what was important to them and how they wanted their care delivered. People’s care was planned and provided to enhance their lives. People felt consulted, listened to and valued. The staff were extremely skilled in understanding and respecting people’s diversity, values and beliefs. The provider took a key role in the local community and found innovative ways to combat social isolation. The staff provided outstanding care to people and their families at the end of life. The staff were trained to have meaningful conversations with people about their end of life care and to explore and resolve any concerns they had. The provider had an effective procedure for receiving and managing complaints about the service.
People were extremely positive about the way the company was led and said the this was exceptional and distinctive. Everyone we spoke with said they would recommend the service. One person told us, “Tell them how fabulous they are and get other care companies to come and see how it’s done.” The provider worked collaboratively with other agencies to improve care outcomes for people. The registered manager established positive relationships with local and specialist services to ensure people received outstanding care. People who used the service, their families and the staff were asked for their views and the provider actively tried to involve people to develop high-quality practice and to ensure the continuous improvement of the service. The provider had a strong governance framework to assess and continuously improve the quality of 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: This service was registered with us on 13/03/2019 and this is the first inspection.
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.