Home Care Assist

Updated 2 April 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.

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 service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 09 March 2020 and ended on 10 March 2020. We visited the office location on 10 March 2020.

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 and professionals who work with the service. 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 six people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the provider, registered manager, care co-ordinator, field care supervisor and care workers. We also received feedback from one professional.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care and medications records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

After the inspection

The registered manager forwarded a copy of the actions they had taken as a result of the inspection feedback.

Updated 2 April 2020

About the service

Home Care Assist is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 10 people in their own homes at the time of the inspection.

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

People were supported by safely recruited staff, who had the skills and knowledge to provide effective support. There were enough staff available to provide consistent care and to meet people’s needs. Medicines were managed safely, and people were protected from the risk of infection.

Effective care planning and risk management was in place which guided staff to provide support that met people’s needs and in line with their preferences. People were supported with their nutritional needs and advice was sought from healthcare professionals which was followed to ensure people’s wellbeing was maintained.

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 supported by caring and compassionate staff who promoted choices in a way that people understood. This meant people had control and choice over their lives. Staff provided dignified care and respected people’s privacy.

People and relatives were involved in the planning and review of their care. Staff used care plans to ensure they provided support in line with people’s wishes. This ensured people received personalised care in line with their preferences and diverse needs.

Systems were in place to monitor the service, and improvements were in progress to ensure lessons were learnt when things went wrong. There was an open culture within the service, where complaints were acted on and improvements made. People and staff could approach the management team who acted on concerns raised to make improvements to the way care was delivered.

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 25 March 2019, and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned 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.