Home Instead Medway

Updated 29 April 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

Home Instead Medway is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations. At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 19 April 2023 and ended on 26 April 2023. We carried out telephone calls to people on 25 April 2023 and 26 April 2023. We visited the location’s office on 19 April 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We also looked at information we held about the agency, such as notifications. Notifications are changes, events, or incidents which the provider is required to tell us about by law. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service, 3 care workers, 1 field supervisor/support coordinator, the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care records, risk assessments, daily records, medicine, and health records. We also looked at 3 staff files including their recruitment, supervision, and training records. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service, quality assurance records and a variety of policies and procedures implemented by the provider. We also looked at other records the provider kept, such as staff meetings minutes and surveys people completed to share their views as well as feedback from 2 healthcare professionals.

Updated 29 April 2023

About the service

Home Instead Medway is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support for people in their own homes. The agency provides care and support for people in Chatham area of Medway. The service is registered to provide support to younger adults and older adults, people living with dementia, mental health needs, sensory impairments, physical disability and people with a learning disability. At the time of our inspection, 11 people were receiving regulated activity of personal care.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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

People told us they were happy and satisfied with the service provided. A person said, “I am very happy with the care I receive.”

Right Support:

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 supported people with their medicines in a way that promoted their independence and achieved the best possible health outcome.

Staff supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs.

Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe.

Right Culture:

People were supported to maintain good health, were supported with their medicines and had accessed healthcare services when needed. Where assessed, staff prepared food and drink to meet people’s dietary needs and requirements.

People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff and specialists could meet their needs and wishes.

People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity.

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 us on 13 July 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.