Background to this inspection
Updated
26 July 2018
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 inspection took place on 21 and 25 May 2018. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure staff would be available to speak with us.
The inspection team consisted of one inspector and one 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.
Before our inspection we reviewed information, we held about the service. We checked to see what notifications had been received from the provider. Providers are required to inform the CQC of important events which happen within the service. Due to technical problems, the provider was not able to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.
During the inspection we spoke with four people receiving care and support, four relatives and one friend by telephone. We spoke with a further two people when we visited their home. We spoke with the registered manager, the care manager, a senior carer and two care staff. We looked at care records for four people, medicines records and recruitment records for four care staff. We looked at other records in relation to the management of the service, such as health and safety checks, minutes of staff meetings and quality assurance records.
Following the inspection we also received feedback from two external healthcare professionals.
We last inspected the service in April 2016 where no concerns were found. The service was rated as good in all domains.
Updated
26 July 2018
We carried out this announced inspection on the 21 and 25 May 2018.The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that staff would be available to talk with us.
This service is a domiciliary care agency. New Forest Home Care provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the agency was providing a service for 27 older people with a variety of care needs, including people living with physical frailty or memory loss due to the progression of age.
The service had a registered manager. 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.
We received positive feedback from people about the service. All the people who used the service expressed great satisfaction and spoke highly of the care staff.
People felt safe with the service provided by New Forest Home Care. Staff had received training in safeguarding adults and knew how to identify, prevent and report abuse. Improvements had been made to recruitment practices to ensure people were kept safe.
The risks to people were minimized through risk assessments, which provided staff with clear guidelines to follow. There were plans in place for foreseeable emergencies.
People were supported to take their medicines safely from suitably trained staff. Staff contacted healthcare professionals promptly when they had concerns about people’s health and wellbeing.
People felt they were treated with kindness and compassion and said their privacy and dignity was respected. Staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and understood that people had the right to make their own choices.
Staff received regular support and one to one sessions or supervision to discuss areas of development. They completed a wide range of training and felt it supported them in their job role.
New staff completed an induction before being permitted to work unsupervised. There were sufficient numbers of staff to maintain the schedule of care visits to meet people’s needs.
Care plans provided comprehensive information about how people wished to receive care and support. This helped ensure people received personalised care in a way that met their individual needs.
People were supported with their nutritional needs when required. staff were aware of people’s likes and dislikes.
People felt listened to and a complaints procedure was in place and people knew how to make a complaint if they needed to.
Staff felt supported by the management and felt they could visit the office and be listened to. Regular audits of the service were carried out to assess and monitor the quality of the service.