Background to this inspection
Updated
15 August 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.
The announced comprehensive inspection started on 24 July 2018 and ended on 25 July 2018. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
We visited the office location on 24 July 2018 to meet with the registered manager and to review care records and policies and procedures. During the visit we spoke with the registered manager, the care manager and with two support staff. Following the visit to the agency office, we spoke with four people using the service, four relatives and one support staff over the telephone.
We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and the way the service was managed. These included the care records for four people, medicine administration records, staff training records, staff supervision and appraisal records, minutes from meetings, quality assurance audits, incident and accident reports, complaints and compliments records and records relating to the management of the service.
In preparation for our visit, we contacted the local authority contracting unit for feedback and we checked the information we held about the service and the provider. We did not ask the provider to send us the Provider Information Return for this inspection. 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.
Updated
15 August 2018
We carried out an announced inspection of Ashcroft Homecare Limited on 24 and 25 July 2018.
Ashcroft Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. Not everyone using Ashcroft Homecare Limited receives a regulated activity. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided.
At the time of our inspection the agency was providing personal care to 38 people.
At the last inspection on 26 and 27 September 2017, we found a breach of the regulations relating to the provider’s failure to manage people’s medicines safely, a failure to recruit staff safely and a failure to effectively monitor the service. Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the service.
During this inspection, we found the necessary improvements had been made and the service was meeting all the current regulations.
At the time of our inspection, there was a registered manager in post. 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.’
People were happy with the care and support they received and made positive comments about the staff. They told us they felt safe and staff were patient, caring and respectful. People had developed positive trusting relationships with staff. Staff understood how to protect people from abuse.
People told us that they received support that reflected their individual needs and preferences. The information in people's support plans was sufficiently detailed and risks to their health and safety had been identified and managed safely. We spoke with the registered manager about how the information could be further improved. People's care and support was kept under review and they were involved in decisions about their care. Staff worked in partnership with relevant health and social care professionals when people's needs changed.
People considered there were enough staff to provide them with a reliable, flexible and consistent service. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way; the policies and systems at the service supported this practice.
The recruitment and selection processes had improved since our last inspection. Further improvements and a review of the recruitment policies and procedures were being undertaken. Arrangements were in place to make sure staff were trained and competent.
The management of people’s medicines had improved since our last inspection. Staff administering medicines had received training and supervision to do this safely. We discussed further improvements with the registered manager.
People had choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff respected people's diversity and promoted people's right to be free from discrimination; people's dignity and privacy was respected.
People's nutritional needs were monitored as necessary and staff knew their likes and dislikes. People told us they were happy and did not have any complaints but were confident they would be listened to.
The systems for assessing, monitoring and developing the quality of the service had been improved since our last inspection. Further improvements were being undertaken. People were consulted and their views were acted upon.