Archived: East Riding of Yorkshire Care in the Home Service

Updated 11 February 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 was planned to check whether the registered 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 carried out by one adult social care inspector and took place on 03 November 2015. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service that is very specific in nature. This was because we needed to be sure someone would be in and ensure the management team and staff were available for us to speak with.

Before the inspection, we asked the registered provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We contacted the local authority safeguarding and quality performance team as part of our inspection process, in order to obtain their views about the service and whether they had any concerns. They told us they had no ongoing issues with the service. We also looked at details we hold about the registered provider and looked at notifications submitted by them about significant issues affecting the people who used the service.

During our inspection we made a visit to the registered provider’s office and spoke to the acting manager, a senior service manager who was supporting them, a team care coordinator, a team support worker and a volunteer. We visited the home of one of the people who used the service and subsequently spoke with seven others by telephone.

We looked at the care files belonging to four people who used the service, staffing records and a selection of documentation relating to the management and running of the service, such as quality audits, minutes of team meetings and performance reports.

Updated 11 February 2016

This inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector over one day on 03 November 2015. This was the first inspection of East Riding of Yorkshire Care in the Home since it was registered in May 2014.

East Riding of Yorkshire Care in the Home is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a domiciliary care agency for the provision of personal care to people who use the service. The agency is operated by the British Red Cross society and provides a dedicated and very specific time limited period of support, usually for a maximum 6 week period. The support is for people recently discharged from hospital following surgery and who require assistance to apply and remove surgical stockings worn to prevent blood clots. The premises are shared with staff delivering other Red Cross services. There is suitable access for people who experience mobility difficulties. At the time of our inspection the service was providing a service for seventeen people.

We found the registered manager had ceased their employment with the service five months prior to our inspection. An acting manager had been appointed two months previously. We found the acting manager was in the process of completing their application 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Policies and procedures were available to guide staff when reporting potential safeguarding concerns. However, although the registered provider had alerted the local safeguarding team about a concern, they had failed to notify the Care Quality Commission. Staff had been trained to recognise and report possible abuse and had been recruited safely to ensure they did not pose a potential risk to people who used the service. Risks to people had been assessed to enable staff to manage these safely and protect them from harm. People were provided with a contact number for an out of hour’s service, together with details of who to contact if they had any safeguarding concerns.

A range of training was provided to ensure staff had the skills needed carry out their roles. Staff were provided with supervision and appraisal of their skills to enable them to develop their careers and to ensure their performance was monitored. Staff communicated with people in a considerate and courteous way and obtained their consent before carrying out interventions. Staff involved community healthcare professionals for people when required to ensure their medical needs were promoted.

People were involved and participated in decisions about their support to enable their wishes and feelings to be promoted. People were supported to be as independent as possible by staff who were professional in manner and who demonstrated kindness and compassion and respected their confidentiality.

People’s needs were assessed to ensure the service was able to meet them in a way that had been agreed. Staff demonstrated a good understanding of people’s strengths and individual preferences for their support. People were able to raise a concern about the service and were confident the registered provider would investigate these appropriately.

Governance systems were in place to enable the quality of the service to be monitored. People were consulted and encouraged to share their views about the service to enable it to improve and develop. Regular meetings took place to ensure staff were aware of their professional roles and responsibilities. Management feedback was provided to staff in a positive and constructive way and we were told the service upheld the values of the registered provider’s organisation and adhered to its vision of ‘refusing to ignore people in crisis.’