Archived: Care at Home Service, Allendale Road

Updated 28 September 2017

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 was 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.

The inspection was announced and took place between 18 and 21 July 2017. We gave short notice that we would be visiting as we needed to make sure the registered manager and staff were available to assist the inspection. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Before the inspection, the provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the PIR and other information we held about the service prior to our inspection. This included the notifications we had received from the provider. Notifications are changes, events or incidents the provider is legally obliged to send us within required timescales.

We used a range of methods to gather information and feedback about the service. During our inspection we had telephone contact with seven people using the service and five relatives. We received questionnaires completed by 17 people who had used the service, three relatives, nine staff and 10 community professionals. At our visit to the office we talked with the registered manager, two team leaders, three co-ordinators and six care workers. We also spoke with two social care assessment officers who were attached to the service. We examined four people’s care records, staff recruitment, training and supervision, and reviewed other records related to the management and quality of the service.

Updated 28 September 2017

Care at Home Service, Allendale Road provides personal care to adults in their own homes who need support to help them live independently. It provides reablement services, usually for up to six weeks, to people who have been discharged from hospital or whose needs have changed. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 225 people and had moved into new premises. The provider had made the necessary applications to the Care Quality Commission to make changes to their registration.

The service was last inspected in January 2016 when we had followed up on a breach of legal requirements relating to medicines management. Prior to this we had carried out a comprehensive inspection in February 2015 and rated the service as ‘Good’. At this inspection in July 2017 the service remained ‘Good’ and met each of the fundamental standards we inspected.

We found people’s care was appropriately planned to reduce risks to their personal safety and welfare. Steps were taken to safeguard people from harm and abuse.

Improvements in the support given to people with their prescribed medicines had been sustained. Good, co-ordinated arrangements were in place to assist people in meeting their health and nutritional needs.

There was sufficient staffing capacity and people had allocated teams of care staff for consistency. Staff received the necessary training and support to effectively meet the diverse needs of the people they cared for.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Information about the service was provided and people were fully involved in decisions about their care. People and their families spoke highly about the care provided and the supportive relationships they had developed with staff. They felt staff were caring in their approach, respected privacy and dignity and supported people to live independently as possible.

Care services were provided flexibly and adjusted as people’s needs changed. Each person had individualised care plans with the goals they wished to achieve and their care was reviewed at regular intervals. Staff were mindful of preventing social isolation and supported people to access the community and resume their routines.

The service routinely sought feedback about people’s care experiences. A high number of compliments had been received and any complaints made were taken seriously and properly investigated. Professionals valued the service and the positive outcomes for people.

The management promoted an open, inclusive culture and worked in partnership with other services to ensure people’s safety and well-being. There was a good governance structure that provided leadership and active monitoring of the quality and performance of the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.