Background to this inspection
Updated
4 October 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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone using Home Instead Senior Care Leek and Moorlands received personal care support. CQC only inspects the service received by people provided with their personal care and help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.
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 31 July 2019 and ended on 7 August 2019. We visited the office location on 31 July 2019 and 1 August 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed all the information we had received about the service and previous inspection reports. 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service and one person’s relative about their experience of the care provided when we visited them in their homes. We also spoke with a further three people’s relatives over the telephone. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, care manager and caregivers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medication records. We also checked a variety of records related to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, audits and monitoring systems.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence we found. We looked at staff training data.
Updated
4 October 2019
About the service
Home Instead Senior Care – Leek and Moorlands is a domiciliary care service providing personal care, home help and companionship to people with a variety of needs. At the time of the inspection, the service was supporting 33 people.
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 told us they received a service that was safe. Staff understood how to keep people safe and who to report any concerns to. Where something went wrong, the provider used this as a learning opportunity to make improvements and reduce the risk of similar incidents happening again. We have made a recommendation about risk management because some important information was not always available to guide staff.
People received effective support from staff who received a thorough induction and training to prepare them for their roles. However, people who used the service and staff would benefit from training around people’s specific needs. The service worked with other agencies and supported people to maintain good health and access healthcare services. We have made a recommendation for the service to improve consistency with how they apply the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). People were generally 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 were very positive about the caring approach of staff. Staff recognised, respected and valued people as individuals. People received support from a consistent staff team which enabled them to get to know each other well and build good caring relationships.
The service put people at the heart of the care they received. Staff used detailed assessments to identify people’s needs and preferences and worked to ensure people were happy with the care they received. If people were not happy, they were confident they could speak with staff to make improvements. The service made sure people were supported to communicate and staff supported people to avoid social isolation.
The service was led by a registered manager and senior staff who everyone described as approachable, well-organised and caring. The culture at the service was open and inclusive. Senior staff understood their responsibilities and monitored the quality of the service using a range of systems. Where areas for improvement were identified, the registered manager took action to make improvements. However, the systems had not identified issues around the level of information in some people’s care plans or the inconsistencies around how the service applied the principles of the MCA. We have made a recommendation about this.
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 31 January 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.