Ashridge Home Care

Updated 31 July 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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector. An Expert by Experience made telephone calls to a sample of people, their relatives or representatives. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

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

This inspection was announced. We gave the provider short notice so they could make arrangements to be at the office when we visited and to facilitate the inspection process. Inspection activity started on 19 June 2019 and ended on 26 June 2019. We visited the office location on 19 and 20 June 2019.

What we did before the inspection

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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We contacted staff by email and invited them to provide feedback to us. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the operations manager and the nominated individual for the service. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We had conversations with two care workers who visited the office. We spoke with nine people on the telephone, seven of whom were happy to provide feedback.

We looked at a range of records. These included three people’s care plans, three staff recruitment files, three staff development files, the staff training matrix and a sample of staff and office meeting minutes. Medicines administration records were looked at for five people. We checked a sample of audit reports, records of complaints, accident and incident forms. Other records included a sample of policies and procedures. With our permission, the provider contacted relatives and people’s representatives, to pass on email details for anyone who wished to send feedback direct to the inspector.

After the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager by telephone as they could not be present when we visited the office.

Updated 31 July 2019

About the service

Ashridge Home Care is a domiciliary care agency which provides predominately live-in care workers to people in their own homes. Seventeen people used the service at the time of our visit. 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 spoke highly of their care workers. Comments included “The carers are absolutely marvellous” and “I have an excellent carer, she is exceptional, gold standard.” People told us their care workers treated them with dignity and respect. They were able to select their care workers to ensure compatibility. Staff had been recruited using robust procedures to ensure they were safe to work with people at risk.

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.

Care workers had training in key skills. Bespoke training was provided to meet the individual needs of people. Staff spoke highly of the ethos of the service and the support they received. This included regular supervision, staff meetings and out of hours back-up. Staff felt respected and valued and were clear about their roles and accountabilities.

Staff assessed risks to people and kept records up to date. Where people were supported with their medicines, this was managed safely. We saw improvements had been made to medicines practice since the last inspection.

Staff provided a high standard of care and supported people to eat and drink. Healthcare needs were met effectively. People were supported to be as independent as they could be. People’s equality and diversity needs were well met at the service.

The registered manager and other leaders ran the service well and supported staff to develop their skills. Managers monitored the service to make sure it met people’s needs in a safe and person-centred way. The provider kept us informed of any significant events. Action was taken when things went wrong or people made complaints. There was a commitment to continuous learning and developing the service to improve people’s lives.

The service worked well with external agencies to improve people’s care and raised awareness in the community about dementia and live-in care. Community professionals spoke well of the service. One described it as “Professional and caring,” another commented they had “Always been very impressed with their dedication to improving the lives of people with dementia.”

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 Requires Improvement (report published 31 August 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Ashridge Home Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.