Northampton Nursing and Carers Agency

Updated 2 February 2019

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 announced inspection took place on 8, 9, 10 and 11 January 2019 and was undertaken by two inspectors and two Expert-by- Experiences. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because we needed to ensure someone was available to facilitate the inspection.

We visited the office location on 8 January 2019 to meet with the two registered managers and to review care records and policies and procedures. On the 9, 10 and 11 January we visited people in their homes and contacted people by telephone and carried out telephone interviews with staff.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service including statutory notifications and any safeguarding referrals raised. A notification is information about important events, which the provider is required to send us by law. We had not requested a Provider Information return. 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. However, we gave the provider the opportunity to share any key information about the service and what improvements they planned to make.

During the inspection, we met with two people who used the service and one person’s relative and we spoke with 13 people who used the service and 14 family members by telephone. We also spoke with nine care staff and the two registered managers.

We reviewed the care records of five people and three staff recruitment files. We also reviewed records relating to the management and quality assurance of the service including staff training records, complaints and audits.

Updated 2 February 2019

Northampton Nursing and Carers Agency (NNCA) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community.

Not everyone using NNCA receives 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, 63 people were receiving personal care.

At the last inspection in July 2016, the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

People continued to receive safe care and support. People told us that they felt cared for safely in their own home. Care records contained risk assessments to protect people from identified risks and helped to keep them safe.

Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. Staff understood their role in caring for people with limited or no capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

People had care plans that were personalised to their individual needs and wishes. Records contained detailed information to assist care workers to provide care and support in an individualised manner that respected each person's individual requirements and promoted treating people with dignity.

Staffing levels ensured that people received the support they required at the times they needed. People could be assured they would be supported by staff who knew them. The recruitment practice protected people from being cared for by staff that were unsuitable to work in their home.

People were supported to take their medicines as prescribed. They were supported to maintain good health, and had access to healthcare services when needed.

People received care from staff that were compassionate, friendly and kind. Staff had the skills and knowledge to provide the care and support people needed and were supported by two registered managers who were receptive to ideas and committed to providing a high standard of care.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided. Staff and people were confident that issues would be addressed and that any concerns they had would be listened to.