Barnfield HomeCare

Barnfield Home Care is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes, including older people who have a physical disability or people living with dementia. This provider purchased the business from the previous owners and registered with us as a new provider on 27 July 2020.

At the time of our visit the agency supported 42 people who received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do provide personal care, staff also consider any wider social care provided. Care calls ranged from 30-minutes to eight-hour duration at the time of this inspection.

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

Improvements to the provider’s audit and checking processes were needed so they had clear evidence to show, what aspects of the service they had checked, what needed improving and what those improvement plans were. The provider told us since purchasing the business, their focus for the last 12 months was on making those positive changes. They told us regular checks were made but transitioning from old to new systems meant clear recording systems were not yet embedded. It was evident the changes already made, showed the provider was committed to driving up standards.

People and relatives were complimentary about the service they or their relative received. People and relatives said improvements had been made since our last inspection when we inspected under different business ownership. Relatives in particular told us, management, communication and feeling involved in their family members care was much better.

People were cared for by staff who were safely recruited. Staff and the provider knew how to keep people safe and protected from abusive practice. Systems to learn lessons when things went wrong helped to drive improvements and the registered manager notified us and the relevant body at the right times.

People said staff were kind, caring, gentle and always willing to do what was needed and expected of them. People were cared for by staff who attended training relevant to their roles. Assessments were completed before care was provided. This helped to ensure staff had the relevant skills and knowledge to meet a person’s needs.

Staff followed infection control procedures in line with national guidance for reducing the spread of COVID-19.

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’s knowledge of how to support people was consistent with people’s care needs, however changes were not always recorded swiftly in people's care plans. Risks related to people’s care were recorded and reviewed, but these were not always detailed and updated. There were instructions for staff to follow to manage those identified risks, however for some risks, such as risks related to specialist equipment, these needed to be more specific. The registered manager assured us this would be addressed.

People feedback from our telephone calls showed regular checks on their satisfaction were made any improvements or changes were swiftly made.

People and staff were complimentary of the management team. People and relatives said the management team was approachable and responsive.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

This service was registered with us on 17 July 2020 and this is the first inspection under the new provider.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date the service was first registered with the CQC.

Follow up

We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.