Background to this inspection
Updated
26 June 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
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. This was because we were calling people at home and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 10 June 2019 and ended on 11 June 2019. We visited the office location on 11 June 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the provider, the governance and operations manager, the registered manager and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and different medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management and quality assurance of the service were reviewed.
Updated
26 June 2019
About the service
Radfield Home Care Shrewsbury is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 54 people in their own homes at the time of the inspection.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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
People and relatives we spoke with told us that overall, they felt staff provided safe care and support. One person told us, “That was the whole idea, for them to make sure I am alright, and they do that well.” We discussed with the service a few areas for review when it came to supporting people with their medicines and managers were responsive to this feedback. On balance we heard and found that people’s experience of using the service was very positive.
People and relatives told us that staff were usually on time and no care calls were missed. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to keep people safe and had confidence in managers to address any concerns. People using the service, their relatives and staff were involved in the development of the service through regular reviews and meetings. We discussed how these, alongside a variety of quality checks and audits, could further support the service to make and maintain improvements.
The service was led by a very well-respected management team who were knowledgeable about people and their needs and particularly supportive of their staff. People and relatives spoke very well of the staff and told us that most were very good, kind and caring. People and relatives knew who to speak to if they needed to complain, but most told us they had never had a reason to.
Staff understood the value and importance of providing company and social contact for people, while also completing all tasks people needed them to. The service had developed connections with other professionals and organisations. This helped to continuously develop their best practice and achieve positive outcomes for people.
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.
At the time of inspection, individualised care was supported through brief electronic care plans that gave basic information and reminded staff which tasks to carry out. The service was developing care plans to become much richer in their information about people’s life stories.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was Good (published 20 October 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating. We inspected to check whether the service had maintained its Good rating and overall found that they had.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.