Home Instead

Updated 22 August 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.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure the manager, staff and people we needed to speak to were available.

The inspection took place on the 26 June and 2 July 2018. It included visiting the site office and speaking to people and their relatives by telephone. The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Due to technical problems, we did not ask the provider to complete a Provider Information Return. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. A Provider Information Return 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. We also examined other information we held about the service. This included notifications of incidents that the registered persons had sent us since our last inspection. These are events that happened in the service that the registered persons are required to tell us about.

We also invited feedback from the commissioning bodies who contributed to purchasing some of the care provided in the service. We did this so that they could tell us their views about how well the service was meeting people's needs and wishes.

We spoke to three people using the service, two relatives, two staff, the registered manager and the registered provider. We looked at care records for three people receiving a service. We also looked at records that related to how the service was managed including training, staffing and quality assurance.

Updated 22 August 2018

This inspection was carried out on 26th June and 2nd July 2018 and was announced.

Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency and provides care and support for people in their own homes. Care is provided for a range of people including older people and people with dementia. The service operates in the area local to their office in Shoreham. Not everyone using Home Instead Senior Care receives a 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 there were 14 people using the service.

The provider had suitable processes in place to safeguard people from different forms of abuse. Risks to the environment and people were assessed. Steps were taken to mitigate the risks identified. There were enough staff to meet the needs of those being supported. When people were helped with their medicines, they were supported in a safe way by well trained staff. People were protected by the prevention and control of infection. Staff knew to report safety incidents and improvements were made when things went wrong.

People had their needs assessed in line with current legislation before support was provided. The assessments took into account their protected characteristics such as their sexuality or ethnicity.

Staff were trained to have the knowledge and skills to deliver effective care to those being supported. Staff worked together to ensure that people received consistent and person-centred support when they moved between different services.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet. Staff made referrals to health professionals when they were needed. 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 in practice.

Staff were encouraged to develop caring relationships with the people they supported. People’s independence and dignity was respected at all times. People were involved in reviewing their care. Staff supported people to express their views and they took part in making decisions about their care. The registered manager was able to describe how they would support people to have a comfortable and dignified death.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

The registered manager had an oversight of and reviewed the daily culture in the service, including the attitudes, values and behaviour of staff. They promoted transparency and fairness within the workforce. People, their families and staff were encouraged to be engaged and involved with the service. The registered manager was developing strong links with the local community. They had good relationships with the local authority, a local hospice, GPs and other organisations.