Right at Home Oxford

Updated 1 July 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 was completed 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 are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 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. We visited the office location on 16 April 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return (PIR) 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 telephoned four people receiving the support to gather their views and we contacted five staff for their feedback.

During the inspection

We spoke with the director, the registered manager, the new manager, and the care coordinator. We reviewed a range of records, including four people’s care records and samples of medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff support. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including incidents, complaints and audits were also viewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We contacted four external professionals to seek their views.

Updated 1 July 2021

About the service:

Right at Home Oxford is a service registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. The service supports younger adults and older people living in and around the Oxford area. On the day of our inspection they were supporting 13 people with the regulated activity of personal care, more people received non regulated support such as housekeeping or companionship.

People’s experience of using this service:

People benefitted from an exceptionally caring staff team and were supported by a dedicated staff team which meant they experienced continuity of care. The feedback from people demonstrated the caring and empowering culture was well embedded across the organisation. People were extremely complimentary about staff and words used to described them included ‘wonderful’ and ‘we’re like a family’.

There was an emphasis on respecting people’s diverse needs, such as their cultural needs. The provider had a system that considered careful matching of the staff with people they supported taking their mutual interests and individual personalities into account.

The caring approach was also visible in the way the provider supported their staff. There was an emphasis on motivating and empowering them. Staff were extremely complimentary about the provider and the feedback received showed the provider’s aim to establish a ‘one team’ culture that put people first was being achieved.

People received safe care from staff that knew them well and were able to identify any changes or concerns. The provider had procedures in place that guided staff how to escalate any safeguarding concerns. The rotas were planned in advanced, which meant staff knew who and where they were visiting, and people complimented staff’s punctuality.

Where people received support with taking their medicines, this had been carried out in line with good practice guidance. Staff had training and followed good practice guidance around infection control. People told us staff wore protective personal equipment, such as masks and gloves.

People’s needs were assessed prior to the commencement of the service. The assessment included people’s health, physical and emotional as well as communication needs. 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.

Staff received training that enabled them to perform well in their roles and told us they were well supported. People were encouraged to meet their dietary and health care needs. The team worked with external professionals to ensure, when needed, people had access to healthcare services.

People received care that met their needs, this included people’s communication needs. The service worked with other professionals to ensure people had a pain free and dignified death.

The service was led by a team of directors who were also the owners of the company and one of whom was the registered manager. There was a clear staffing structure and a new manager, who was awaiting their registration had been recently appointed. Staff demonstrated a strong level of engagement, a real sense of pride of working for Right at Home Oxford and there was a high level of staff satisfaction. The provider had an ambition to be innovative and put people at the centre of the service delivery. They welcomed any form of external auditing and feedback received was treated as an opportunity to reflect and further improve the quality of the service for people.

There was an emphasis on empowering staff and their development. Staff complimented the provider and told us they were well supported and listened to. The entire team demonstrated a positive and transparent approach. The management team were well aware of their regulatory responsibilities, including Duty of Candour.

The team at Right at Home Oxford has worked well with various local health and social professionals. They were very complimentary about the service and the care the team provided to people.

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 11 October 2019 and this is their 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.