Right At Home (East Lancashire & Ribble Valley)

Updated 9 January 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 site visit took place on 07 December 2017 and was announced.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is domiciliary care service and the 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 07 December 2017 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care 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 service.

Before our inspection visit we reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people who used the service. We also reviewed the Provider Information Return (PIR) we received prior to our inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This provided us with information and numerical data about the operation of the service.

The inspection was also informed by feedback from questionnaires completed by a number of people using services. This complimented the service and its staff on their ability to provide consistent care demonstrating excellent skills and knowledge.

We contacted nine people who used the service, via telephone interviews. We also spoke to two staff members face to face. In addition we emailed all staff who worked at the service and received feedback from seven staff. We spoke with the managing director, care coordinator, the franchise director, training officer and the registered manager.

We looked at the care records of five people who used the service, training and four recruitment records of staff members and records relating to the management of the service. We also contacted the safeguarding department at the local authority and Healthwatch to ask them about their opinion of the service.

Updated 9 January 2018

The inspection visit took place on 07 December 2017 and was announced.

Right At Home (East Lancashire & Ribble Valley) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses, flats in the community and specialist housing. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for people supported in their own homes; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support. At the time of the visit there were 45 people who used the service. Staff employed at this service were referred to as ‘caregivers’.

At the last inspection in October 2015 the service was rated 'Good' with outstanding in responsive and was meeting the regulatory requirements relevant at that time. At this inspection in December 2017, the service had successfully retained an outstanding rating in responsive. The service remained 'Good'.

The registered manager had systems in place to record safeguarding concerns, accidents and incidents and take appropriate action when required. Recruitment checks were carried out to ensure suitable people were employed to work at the service.

Staff skills knowledge, training and support demonstrated a commitment to providing outstanding care which was embedded into the practices of the staff and the management team. The service put people's views at the forefront of the service and designed the service around their needs.

People were supported to have maximum 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.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people who used the service. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care and support people required.

Care plans were well written in a person centred manner detailing how people wished to be supported. People who received support, or where appropriate their relatives, were involved in decisions and consented to their care. People’s independence and choice was promoted. There was an exceptional drive to maximise people’s independence and significant efforts to promote social inclusion. This was supported by a highly motivated staff team that took a person centred approach to their role. Feedback and comments from people was extremely positive.

Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required.

We found people had been assisted to have access to healthcare professionals and their healthcare needs were met.

We received mixed feedback from people regarding visiting times. However, there was no significant impact on people's outcomes.

People who used the service and their relatives knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. The complaints procedure was available and people said they were encouraged to raise concerns.

The registered manager and the nominated individual used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of service provided to people. These included regular internal audits of the service, satisfaction surveys to seek the views of people about the quality of care being provided. The feedback from the surveys was exceptionally positive.