Background to this inspection
Updated
16 April 2015
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 and 7 January 2015. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and this is in line with our current methodology.
The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.
Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). 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.
As part of the inspection we spoke with 15 people who used the service and the relatives of three people who could not speak with us. We also spoke with the manager, the provider’s care delivery director and five care staff.
We inspected a variety of records including three care plans, five staff records, quality audits carried out by the manager and the provider and records related to the overall management of the service.
Updated
16 April 2015
This inspection took place on 7, 14 and 20 January 2015.
The service provides care and support to people who live in their own homes in Ipswich or surrounding area. At the time of our inspection people receiving support had a variety of care needs, including people with physical disabilities and mental health needs. The service is managed from an office located in Ipswich.
The service has a condition of registration that there is a registered manager. On the day of our inspection the person managing the service was not registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). They had applied to the CQC to register and this application was in progress. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.
At the last inspection in May 2014, we asked the provider to take action to make improvements to staffing levels and the way the quality of care was monitored. This action has been completed.
All the people we spoke with said they felt safe using the service. The provider had policies and procedures which were intended to keep people safe and minimise the likelihood of abuse. Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding adults and what to do if they had concerns about abuse. People’s medicines were managed safely and administered as prescribed.
There were sufficient appropriately trained staff to provide people with the care and support they required. The service had a system in place to let people know in advance which member of care staff would be visiting them to provide care. People told us that they had regular care workers who visited them and they knew their needs and preferences.
People told us they received their care from care workers who arrived on time and supported them in a caring and unrushed manner. People were supported to have enough to eat and drink where this support was required.
Care plans were individual and contained an assessment of people’s needs and how their needs would be met. There were risk assessments in care plans which addressed physical risks such as moving and handling and risk to people such as falls and pressure ulcers. Care plans and risk assessments were regularly reviewed.
The manager demonstrated a good understanding of the importance of effective quality assurance systems. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. Where these identified areas for improvement action plans were put in place which were monitored by the provider.