Archived: Affinia Healthcare

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Affinia Healthcare provides care and support to people living in a supported living setting, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

The service had a registered manager, who was also the provider. This means that they 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 provider 72 hour’s notice because we needed to ensure that a member of the management team would be available to support us with the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed relevant information that we had about the service. We checked the last inspection report. 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 the service, what they do well and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people that used the service, the registered manager, deputy manager and two staff. We reviewed documents and records that related to people’s care and the management of the service. We reviewed care plans, which included risk assessments and staff files, which included pre-employment checks. We looked at other documents such as training, medicine and quality assurance records.

After the inspection

We contacted professionals involved with the service for information.

Updated 4 September 2019

About the service

Affinia Healthcare is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in a supported living setting in the London Borough of Havering. At the time of our inspection, there were three people living at the supported living site that received personal care. The supported living site was made up of 16 self-contained flats.

People’s experience of using this service

Systems for the safe management of medicines were ineffective. We made a recommendation in this area. Audits had not identified the shortfalls we found during the inspection.

Risk assessments were in place to ensure people received safe care. Relevant pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure staff were suitable to care for people safely. Safeguarding procedures were in place to and staff were aware of these procedures.

Staff had completed essential training to perform their roles effectively and felt supported in their roles. 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 had access to health services and were supported with meals when required.

People received care from staff who were kind and compassionate. Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. Staff had developed positive relationships with the people they supported. They understood people’s needs, preferences, and what was important to them. People were encouraged to be independent and to carry out tasks without support.

Care plans were person centred and included people’s support needs. Care plans had been reviewed regularly to ensure they were accurate.

Systems were in place for quality monitoring to ensure people and staff feedback were sought to improve the service. People and staff were positive about the management of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

At our last inspection on 10 July 2018, the service was rated Requires Improvement (published 17 August 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

We identified one breach of Regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in relation to good governance.

Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

Follow up:

We will speak with the provider prior to this report being published to discuss how they will make changes to ensure they improve their rating to at least good. We will work with the local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.