Archived: Forest Homecare West Essex

Updated 30 March 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.

This announced inspection took place on 11 and 16 December 2015 and was undertaken by one inspector and 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. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because the registered manager is sometimes out of the office. We need to be sure they had the opportunity to be present for our inspection.

Before our inspection we looked at all the information we held about the service. Although we had not requested the provider information return (PIR), the operations manager sent us this after we announced the date of the inspection. The PIR is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make.

We looked at other information that we held about the service and asked for feedback from commissioners of people’s care. During our inspection we also requested feedback from healthcare professionals. These included a GP, a community matron and a specialist nurse.

During our inspection we spoke with 11 people and three relatives. We also spoke with the operations manager, the local manager and six staff who work at the service. These included a three care assistants, a senior care assistant, a care co-ordinator and a quality monitoring officer.

We looked at 11 people’s care records, staff training records and three staff recruitment records. We also looked at records relating to the management of the service including audits and records relating to compliments and complaints.

Updated 30 March 2016

Forest Homecare West Essex is a domiciliary care agency that is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection care was provided to 136 people living in the Uttlesford area.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.’

This announced inspection took place on 11and 16 December 2015. This service was added to the provider’s registration on 18 October 2013. This was the first inspection of this service.

Systems were in place to ensure people’s safety was effectively managed. However, people were not always supported to manage their prescribed medicines safely. Staff were aware of the procedures for reporting concerns and of how to protect people from harm.

Staff were only employed after the provider carried out satisfactory pre-employment checks. Staff were trained and well supported by their managers. There were sufficient staff to meet people’s assessed needs.

People’s health, care and nutritional needs were effectively met. People were provided with a balanced diet and staff were aware of people’s dietary needs.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The Act requires that as far as possible people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible. The local manager and staff were knowledgeable about the situations where an assessment of people’s mental capacity could be required

People received care and support from staff who were kind, thoughtful, caring and respectful. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity. People were encouraged to express their views on the service provided. People were encouraged to provide feedback on the service in various ways both formally and informally.

People, and their relatives, were involved in their care assessments and reviews. Care records were detailed and provided staff with sufficient guidance to provide consistent care to each person that met their needs. Changes to people’s care was kept under review to ensure the change was effective.

People and staff told us the service was well managed. People said that all staff were approachable. People’s views were listened to and acted on. The provider constantly looked for ways of improving the service and striving towards best practice.

We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.