Background to this inspection
Updated
15 February 2018
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 was the first inspection for West Sussex Care Limited since registering with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to people with varying levels of need, including older people, people living with dementia and mental health, physical disability, sensory impairment and also younger adults. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.
The inspection took place on the 21 and 30 November 2017 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
Inspection site visit activity started on 21 November 2017 and ended on 30 November 2017. It included observation and discussions with people who use the service and caregivers at a ‘Music and Memories’ Christmas party for people. We spoke to six people and seven people’s relatives. We visited the office location to see the registered manager and office staff and to review care records and policies and procedures. We looked at four people's care records, three staff files and other records about the management of the service. During the inspection process we spoke with the management team, including the owner, the registered manager, the recruitment manager, the care co-ordinator, the training and engagement manager, a senior caregiver and three caregivers. During our observations and engagement with the ‘Music and Memories’ Christmas party, we also spoke with three people using the service, one person’s relative and three caregivers who attended the occasion. The registered manager, owner, care co-ordinator and recruitment manager also attended to support the event.
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an Expert by Experience (ExE). An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service and of people living with dementia. The Expert by Experience conducted telephone calls to seven people and six relatives of people using the service to seek their views and experiences.
The inspection was also informed by feedback from questionnaires and surveys that we asked people and caregivers to complete before the inspection. The surveys we received from staff and people all demonstrated that people were very satisfied with the service they received.
We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
Following the inspection we spoke with a general practitioner (GP), a social worker and reviewed feedback from a community psychiatric nurse (CPN).
Updated
15 February 2018
This inspection took place on the 21 and 30 November 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available for the inspection.
This was first inspection at this location since the service registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to people with varying levels of need, including older people, people living with dementia and mental health, physical disability, sensory impairment and also younger adults.
West Sussex Care is a franchise of the Home Instead brand and it provides personal care services to people living in the Chichester and Bognor Regis areas. Companionship and domestic support can also be provided. Not everyone using West Sussex Care receives regulated activity; 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 the inspection, 36 people were receiving personal care services from the agency.
The service calls their care workers 'caregivers' which is the name they are referred to throughout this report. We also refer to other staff by title or staff.
There is a registered manager at this service. 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.
This service is extremely well-led and demonstrated an exceptionally person-centred culture and evidently put people using the service at the absolute heart of the services they received. The owner and management team worked exceptionally well with other professionals and received positive feedback from professionals of the support provided to people using the service.
The owner worked together with the registered manager to co-ordinate the day-to-day running of the service. The owner worked closely in partnership with the management team when recruiting new caregivers and making decisions about taking on new packages of care and the future plans and development of the service. All new caregivers were carefully selected following a rigorous recruitment and induction process to ensure only the right caregivers were appointed to work towards the ethos and values of the organisation.
People receiving care were “matched” to caregivers with shared mutual interests that evidently ensured positive trusting relationships were fostered which gave people confidence and faith in the service they received.
Caregivers were well trained to meet individual needs of people, including providing sensitive, compassionate end of life care and dementia awareness, with the provider being an accredited Dementia Champion with the Alzheimer’s Society and registered manager an End of Life Care Champion, providing training for the agency.
Systems and processes ensured that people received a high quality safe service, with medicines being given to people safely and in accordance with their wishes and needs.
People were treated with utmost dignity and respect with their personal preferences strongly adhered to by exceptionally caring caregivers who were supported by a devoted management team and provider to “Go the extra mile” for people.
People had access to and were positively supported to attend health care appointments in least restrictive ways. Caregivers understood how to seek consent from people respectfully and appropriately.
The service had a clear strategy, objectives, vision and set of values. These were understood and put into practice. The service’s mission is to, “Change the face of ageing in our local communities in West Sussex and be the home care provider of choice for older people and their families”. It was evident that the organisation strived to achieve this mission statement with their dedication, compassion and “selfless” commitment to provide the best services to people possible.
“Music and Memories” community events were organised and run free of charge by the provider to support all people to come together to minimise social isolation and loneliness.
People, relatives and caregivers all spoke extremely highly of the service and the leadership was commended by professionals working in partnership with the provider and management team of the organisation.