Archived: Advinia Home Care

Updated 18 May 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

This inspection was undertaken on 14 April 2016. We gave the provider two days’ notice that we would be visiting their head office. After our visit to the office we talked to one person who used the service and two relatives. The inspection and interviews were carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete 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 completed PIR and previous inspection reports before the inspection.

We also reviewed other information we have about the provider, including notifications of any safeguarding or other incidents affecting the safety and wellbeing of people.

We spoke with one care staff who supported people with personal care, the manager of the service, the nominated individual for the organisation and two staff who worked in the head office.

We looked at two people’s care plans and other documents relating to their care including risk assessments and daily notes. We looked at other records held by the agency including meeting minutes as well as health and safety documents and quality audits and surveys.

Updated 18 May 2016

This inspection took place on 14 April 2016. We gave the provider two days’ notice that we would be visiting their head office. We gave the provider notice as we wanted to make sure the manager was available on the day of our inspection. This was the first time this service had been inspected since it had moved to a new address.

Advinia Home Care provides support and personal care to people living at home. At the time of our inspection there were two people currently receiving support with personal care. The provision of personal care is regulated by the Care Quality Commission.

There was a manager in post who had applied to be registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People told us they were well treated by the staff and felt safe and trusted them.

The service was not following appropriate recruitment procedures to ensure that only suitable staff were employed at the agency.

Staff could explain how they would recognise and report abuse and they understood their responsibilities in keeping people safe.

Where any risks to people’s safety had been identified, the management had thought about and discussed with the person ways to mitigate risks.

People who used the service and their relatives were positive about the staff and told us they had confidence in their abilities and staff told us that they were provided with training in the areas they needed in order to support people effectively.

Staff understood that it was not right to make choices for people when they could make choices for themselves and people’s ability around decision-making, preferences and choices were recorded in their care plans and followed by staff.

People told us they were happy with the support they received with eating and drinking and staff were aware of people’s dietary requirements and preferences.

People confirmed that they were involved in the planning of their care and support. Care plans included the views of people using the service and their relatives. Relatives told us they were kept up to date about any changes by staff at the office.

People and their relatives told us that the management and staff were quick to respond to any changes in their needs. Care plans reflected how people were supported to receive care and treatment in accordance with their current needs and preferences.

People told us they had no complaints about the service but said they felt able to raise any concerns without worry.

The agency had a number of quality monitoring systems including six monthly surveys for people using the service and their relatives. People we spoke with confirmed that they were asked about the quality of the service and had made comments about this. They felt the service took their views into account in order to improve service delivery.

We identified a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This breach was in relation to staff recruitment. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.