11 and 16 December 2015
During a routine inspection
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.