AR1 Homecare

Updated 13 February 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One inspector carried out this inspection, supported by 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:

AR1 Homecare is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, the service was providing a regulated service to approximately 34 people.

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 five days’ notice of the inspection visit to allow for the New Year holiday period and because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 31 December 2018 and ended on 7 January 2019. It included telephone calls to people using the service and their family members. We visited the office location on 7 January 2019 to see the registered manager, provider and care staff, and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

We looked at information we held about the service including notifications they had made to us about important events. We also reviewed all other information sent to us from other stakeholders for example the local authority and members of the public. We assessed the information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

Before we visited the provider’s office, we spoke with four people who used the service, and three relatives. During our office visit, we spoke with two members of care staff, the registered manager and the provider. We reviewed five people's care records, policies and procedures and records relating to the management of the service, including training records and two staff recruitment files.

Updated 13 February 2019

What life is like for people using this service:

Staff understood their responsibilities to support people to have maximum choice and control of their lives and supported them in the least restrictive way possible. However, the provider needed to improve their recording system to consistently show how people had consented to their care.

Whilst the provider had improved the effectiveness of their quality assurance systems, checks of care plans needed to be improved to ensure they were accurate and reflected people’s preferences.

People were involved in decisions about their care and were happy that staff respected their individual routines. However, the provider had not always followed the Accessible Information Standards by ensuring that people with a sensory loss received information about their care and support in a format that met their needs.

People were supported by caring, friendly and respectful staff. Staff knew people and their families well, respected their privacy and dignity and promoted their wellbeing. Staff listened to people and encouraged them to maintain their independence. Where required, people had been supported to have enough to eat and drink to maintain their health and wellbeing. They were also supported to access other health services.

People were protected from the risk of harm by staff who understood their responsibilities to identify and report any signs of potential abuse. Risks associated with people’s care and support were managed safely. When needed, people received support to take their medicines as prescribed.

People and their relatives knew how to raise concerns and complaints and were encouraged to give feedback on how the service could be improved. Staff felt supported and valued by the provider and were involved in the development of the service. This promoted a caring and inclusive culture within the service.

More information is available in the full report below.

Rating at last inspection: Requires Improvement (Last report published 17 February 2017)

About the service: AR1 Homecare is a domiciliary care service that was providing personal and nursing care to people living in Biddulph and surrounding areas in North Staffordshire.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. At the last inspection the service was rated Requires Improvement overall (in the key questions of Effective and Well Led). At this inspection, we found the provider was now meeting the legal requirements but there were areas that required further improvement. The overall rating for the service has improved to Good (in the key questions of Safe, Effective, Caring, and Responsive).

Follow up:

Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and will revisit in line with our inspection schedule for services rated Good.