18 November 2021
During a routine inspection
Elmich Care Northampton is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. supported living services and extra care housing services. At the time of the inspection there were two people receiving personal care and support in a shared house.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received safe care and staff had completed training in how to keep people safe from avoidable harm, neglect and discrimination. Risks to people's safety were assessed and strategies were put in place to reduce any risks. There were sufficient numbers of staff who had been safely recruited to meet people's needs.
People’s medicines were safely managed, and systems were in place to control and prevent the spread of infection.
People's care needs were assessed before they started to receive care, to ensure their needs could be fully met. Staff received an induction when they first commenced work at the service and ongoing training that enabled them to have the skills and knowledge to provide effective care.
People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain their health and well. Staff supported people to live healthier lives and access healthcare services.
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 provided care and support in a caring and meaningful way. They knew the people who used the service well and had built up kind and compassionate relationships with them. People's privacy and dignity was always maintained.
Care plans described how staff needed to support people with individual and personalised care. There was a complaints procedure in place and systems to deal with complaints effectively.
The service was well managed. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and actions were taken, and improvements were made when required, Staff felt well supported and said the registered manager was open and approachable. The service worked in partnership with outside agencies.
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of Right support, right care, right culture.
Right support: People were supported to have choice and control of their lives. The model of care maximised people's choice inclusion and independence.
Right care: People received person-centred care that was based around their individual needs, dreams and aspirations.
Right culture: The registered manager and staff promoted a very positive, transparent and open culture. There was a strong culture within the service of treating people with dignity and respect and staff spent time getting to know people and their specific needs before they provided them with care and support.
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 CQC on 16 July 2020 and this is the first inspection.
Why we inspected:
This was a planned inspection following registration.
Follow up:
We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.