Home Instead Senior Care - Fareham and Gosport

Updated 4 September 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This 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

Home Instead Senior Care – Fareham and Gosport is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older and younger people living with dementia, mental health conditions, physical disability or sensory impairment. It supports people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 17 June 2019 and ended on 26 June 2018. We visited the office location on 19 June 2019 and 26 June 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We also contacted external healthcare professionals for feedback about the service during the inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with nine people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the registered manager, business operations manager and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

After the inspection

Following the inspection, we received further information from the registered manager about the service. We also received information about the service from an external professional.

Updated 4 September 2019

About the service

Home Instead Senior Care - Fareham and Gosport is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 45 people at the time of the inspection.

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

People consistently told us the service was exceptionally well-led. There was an excellent culture within the service which promoted clear values and a drive to provide high quality care. The high quality, compassionate culture was embedded through every part of the organisation and ensured every person received exceptionally person-centred care. This was driven by a highly organised service run by staff with the right values.

The registered manager and staff worked hard to ensure people were as engaged with their community as they would like to be. People and relatives were signposted to various events and organisations to support them. There was an exceptionally robust governance system in place to ensure there was appropriate oversight of the service to identify improvements needed.

People in the service told us that staff were exceptionally caring. Staff went above and beyond to create lasting meaningful relationships with people. Those relationships enabled staff to provide excellent care which achieved highly positive outcomes for people. The whole culture of the service demonstrated a caring approach and staff were also valued and cared about. People were encouraged to be as independent as possible and continue activities that were meaningful to them. Dignity and respect were always maintained.

People in the service told us they felt safe. Risks to people were thoroughly assessed and known by staff. People were supported by staff who had undergone appropriate recruitment checks. Medicines were managed appropriately, and incidents were thoroughly investigated.

People in the service told us that staff were effective. People experienced good outcomes because staff were skilled and involved the appropriate healthcare professionals at the right time. Staff experienced effective support by senior staff and the registered manager, this enabled them to provide high quality, effective care. People’s hydration and nutritional needs were always met.

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.

People’s needs were holistically assessed and met by the care provided. Care records were person-centred and contained sufficient detail. The service was not providing any end of life care at the time of the inspection but had caring and compassionate examples of providing that support in the past. Complaints were well managed and responded to in a timely manner.

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 5 October 2016).

Why we inspected - This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Home Instead Senior Care – Fareham and Gosport on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.