Northamptonshire

Updated 15 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

The inspection team comprised of two inspectors. We had an Expert by experience complete phone calls to one person and other people's relatives. 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

Northamptonshire Carers is a domiciliary care agency. It provides specialised and tailored personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and support for their main carers.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they 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.

What we did before the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We made calls to people who used the service or where they could not speak with us, their close relatives.

We reviewed the 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 sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with one person who used the service and nine relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with two members of staff including the registered manager and the chief executive officer (CEO). We also had direct contact with seven staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We spoke with one health care professional who worked with the service.

Updated 15 December 2021

About the service

Northamptonshire Carers Is a charitable organisation registered with CQC as a Domiciliary care provider, providing personal care to people in their own homes. This specialised service provides people with overnight support returning home from a hospital stay which also supports the main carer with a break from their caring role. The service also provides a short-term evaluation service, assessing people for their specific overnight needs, to help people settle back at home with additional support from ongoing care professionals.

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 the inspection there were ten people receiving care regulated by CQC.

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

People received safe care. The people and their relatives told us they thought the care was safe and staff were aware of their responsibility to keep people safe. People told us they were very happy with the service and staff were caring and respectful.

There were risk assessments in place to assess people’s needs and environmental safety checks were in place to ensure people and staff were safe from harm.

Staffing levels were adequate and safe recruitment procedures were followed to ensure suitable staff were employed. People and their relatives told us they felt staff were well trained.

People were supported to take their medicines and were provided with their ongoing nutritional requirements. People’s ongoing healthcare needs were monitored and reported on to ensure their main carers were aware of any changes.

The service was well led. People and their relatives had the opportunity to give feedback and make suggestions to improve the service. Staff felt well supported by the management team. Relatives told us the registered manager was open and receptive to comments.

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

Rating at last inspection

This was a first rating inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned rating 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.