Background to this inspection
Updated
4 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection team consisted of one inspector and two and an Expert by Experience( Ex by Ex) . An Ex by Ex is someone who has personal experience of using services. Our Ex by Ex’s had experience of Homecare Services.
Service and service type:
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to children and younger and older adults. The service specialises in providing support to people and children with very complex care needs.
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:
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure that people would be available for us to contact them.
What we did:
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse; and we sought feedback from the local authority.
We assessed the information in the provider information return. This is key information providers
are required to send us about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.
During the inspection, we spoke with two people and 10 relatives of people who used the service, to ask about their experiences. This was because many people who used the service were not able to directly tell us how they felt about the service.
We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, community support staff and a senior manager.
We looked at three people's care records, three staff files and a range of records relating to the management of the service.
Updated
4 July 2019
About the service: Newcross provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection, 28 people were using the service who had a variety of needs.
People’s experience of using this service:
The service was rated Requires Improvement at the last Inspection in April 2018. This was because the service was not always safe at that time. The service did not have enough suitably qualified and experienced staff to meet the needs of their care packages at that time. The service had not always been responsive to people’s needs. People had told us they did not always have positive experiences when contacting the office with queries or concerns. It was also because the provider had not acted quickly enough to mitigate the risks of not having enough staff. At this inspection we found that actions had been taken and the rating of the service in these areas had improved to Good.
The service was safe and risks to people continued to be assessed and were well managed. Risks were identified and assessments in place that were reviewed regularly . This helped to promote safety and a good quality of care.
People received care and support that was well planned and responsive to their needs. Each person’s needs and wishes were placed at the centre of how their care was planned. The service had built up to be a compassionate and innovative organisation.
The service worked closely with other professionals and organisations involved in people’s care. There were different innovative ways people were supported, for example to go swimming. These helped prevent the risk of social isolation and enhance quality of lives. People were supported to be engaged in activities away from their homes.
The registered manager was a positive and transparent role model. They took a leading role conveying values and standards they expected staff to follow and embrace. They did this by looking at continuous improvement. They also made sure they led the service in a way that always meant positive outcomes for people.
Regular social activities, events and networks were held and people were isolated were supported to go to these.
The manager always aimed to improve the quality of service. There were effective ways used to seek people's views on the service. The quality of the service was checked and monitored.
Rating at last inspection: The service was rated Requires Improvement at the last Inspection in April 2018.
Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk