Background to this inspection
Updated
4 May 2016
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 29 March 2016 and was unannounced. The inspection was completed by 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. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report.
We reviewed the information we held about the service, including statutory notifications that the provider had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.
During our inspection we spoke with five people, three members of care staff and the registered manager.
We looked at care plan documentation relating to five people, and three staff files. We also looked at other information related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included quality assurance audits, training information for care staff, staff duty rotas, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints.
Updated
4 May 2016
This unannounced inspection took place on 29 March 2016. This domiciliary care agency supports adults with disabilities aged 18-65. At the time of our inspection there were 48 people using the service.
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 received safe care and support. Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and abuse and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. There were sufficient staff to meet the needs of people that used the agency and recruitment procedures protected people from receiving unsafe care from care staff unsuited to the job.
Care records contained risk assessments and risk management plans to protect people from identified risks and helped to keep them safe but also enabled positive risk taking. They gave information for staff on the identified risk and informed staff on the measures to take to minimise any risks.
People received care from staff that were supported to carry out their roles to meet the assessed needs of people living at the home. Staff received training in areas that enabled them to understand and meet the care needs of each person.
People were actively involved in decisions about their care and support needs. There were formal systems in place to assess people’s capacity for decision making under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. In addition, people were supported to identify and respond to their changing healthcare needs as required.
People received care from staff that were kind and friendly. People had meaningful and fun interactions with staff and looked forward to seeing the staff. Staff understood people’s needs and ensured people were given choices about how they wished to receive their care. People received care at their own pace and had their privacy and were treated with dignity and respect.
People’s care needs were assessed to ensure the service could meet people’s expectations before they began using the service. Care plans were written in a person centred manner and focussed on empowering people to receive the care they required. They detailed how people wished to be supported and people were fully involved in making decisions about their care. People received the care they needed and a suitable complaints procedure was in operation to resolve any concerns people raised.
People and staff reacted positively to the registered manager and the culture within the service focussed upon supporting people’s health and well-being which enabled people to be as independent as possible. Systems were in place to identify where improvements were required and for people and staff to provide feedback about the service.