The Stables

Updated 27 March 2020

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 undertaken 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.

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 the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 5 February 2020 and ended on 10 February 2020. We visited the office location on 5 February 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records together with assessment and review records. We looked at one staff file in full and another staff file in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also looked at the full staff training matrix. In addition to these records we looked at a small selection of other records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We sought feedback from three people who used the service, five relatives and two members of staff.

Updated 27 March 2020

About the service

The Stables is a small home care agency providing support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection The Stables was providing personal care and support to 26 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were protected from the risk of harm or abuse by staff who were well trained to deliver safe care and knew about acting promptly when they felt people were at risk. People and their relatives expressed confidence in the safe care and support provided by staff they found to be reliable and caring. Staff recruitment processes were safe and robust.

People and their relatives said staff safely supported them when they needed assistance to move, and any administration of medication by staff was well managed.

People's care and support needs were assessed and regularly monitored to ensure they were still current and being met. People’s wishes, and legal rights were promoted and protected by staff who had received up to date training which the staff felt equipped them well to deal with any issues.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff advised they had been trained to support them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. People made positive comments about the care and support they received from staff who regularly worked with them.

People were cared for by staff who showed regard for their well-being and relatives commented that people received personalised care from the staff who supported them in ways they preferred.

Relatives advised the staff responded well to changes in how people were to be supported, providing prompt support when people were unwell or had increased care needs. Requests for any short-term changes were also attended to promptly and always met. Agreed plans of care reflected the full care and support needs of people.

People and their relatives expressed confidence that any concerns or complaints would be properly addressed. Concerns or complaints were responded to in line with the providers policy and procedures.

The registered manager was known by people who used the service and their relatives. Staff and relatives made comments about the registered manager being approachable supportive. The provider had regularly sought feedback on the quality of the service through the use of questionnaires with people and their relatives. The registered manager had plans in hand to improve and share information from the analysis of the questionnaires returned. The quality of care provided was regularly checked by the registered manager to ensure the providers set standards were maintained.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (report was published in August 2017)

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk