Faith Health Care Agency Ltd

Updated 21 October 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

In line with our new approach we gave short period notice of this inspection and explained what was involved under the new methodology.

Inspection activity started on 3 October 2022 and ended on 10 October 2022.

What we did before the inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the information held about the service since their registration. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

We spoke with two people’s relatives and five staff members, including the operations director, the registered manager, the care co-ordinator and two support workers. We reviewed four people’s care records, records relating to staffing and records relating to the management of the service. We also received feedback from five social workers allocated to support the needs of people using the service.

Updated 21 October 2022

About the service

Faith Health Care Agency Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing support to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 10 people receiving support. Most were under 18 years old but they were also supporting some people who were transitioning to adult services. Everyone receiving support at the time of our inspection had a learning disability and/or autism. However, the agency was able to support people with a wide range of needs and ages should that be required.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support:

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. People were supported by staff to pursue their interests.

Staff supported people to achieve their aspirations and goals. Staff liaised with health and social care professionals and teaching staff, so there was a shared approach towards skills development and everyone was working together to support people to achieve their goals. 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. Staff worked with people and their families to ensure they felt fully involved and informed in the care planning process. There were regular reviews and there was a flexible approach towards service delivery to ensure it continued to meet people’s needs.

Right Care:

People received kind and compassionate care. People were allocated a care worker to work with them. This enabled consistency in care provision and the development of relationships. Care workers understood and responded to people’s individual needs. Staff protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. People could communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. Care workers liaised with people’s teaching staff to gather further information about communication aids used in the teaching environment so this could be continued in people’s homes and support people to develop their communication skills. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

Right Culture:

People received good quality care, support and treatment because trained staff could meet their needs and wishes. There was continuous staff development to ensure they had up to date knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs. There were regular meetings with other professionals involved in people’s care to ensure care workers were updated on current practice and what was working well for the people they supported. Staff placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. Staff evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The management team were approachable and welcomed feedback about the service. There was a commitment to continuous learning and improvement.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and

This service was registered with us on 3 February 2022 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.