Birchwood Homecaring Services Limited

Updated 18 February 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 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.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 were 2 registered managers in post.

Notice of inspection

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

Inspection activity started on 2 February 2023 and ended on 7 February 2023. We visited the location’s office on 2 February 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 5 people who used the service and 10 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 10 members of staff including the nominated individual and registered manager. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with supervisors and health care assistants

Updated 18 February 2023

About the service

Birchwood Homecaring Services Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing the regulated activity of personal care. At the time of our inspection there were 101 people using the service. The service provides support to adults of all ages, people with a learning disability and people with mental health needs.

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.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and 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.

Right Support:

Staff were recruited safely and received the necessary training to support people safely and meet their needs. People were protected from the risk of abuse and risks to people had been assessed, people’s care plans were regularly reviewed and updated. Staff supported people to maintain their health and wellbeing by accessing healthcare services which positively supported their health.

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.

Right Care:

Staff understood how to promote people's independence and ensured the care they provided treated people with dignity and respect. Staff had received training in equality and diversity and the service supported people to express their views. People's communication needs were considered and met. Medicines were managed safely, and we were assured that the provider had sufficient infection, prevention and control measures in place

Right Culture:

The service promoted a person-centred culture. The registered manager understood their responsibilities and had identified areas to improve the quality of the service through the audit systems in place. People's needs were assessed prior to them receiving care and support from the service. People's needs and preferences were highlighted in their care plans for staff to follow.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 16 October 2018).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about staffing. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks. We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from this concern. Please see the safe sections of this full report.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Birchwood Homecaring Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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