Archived: Home Healthcare

Updated 18 May 2018

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 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 announced inspection took place on 28 March 2018. We gave the provider two days’ notice as we needed to make sure the manager and staff would be available. The inspection team consisted of a single inspector, who visited the office and an expert by experience who spoke with people using the service or their relatives by telephone. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and the provider which included statutory notifications the provider had sent the CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also contacted the commissioning authorities to request feedback on their views of the service. We used these sources of information to help inform our inspection planning.

There were approximately 21 people using the service at the time of our inspection. We spoke with ten people using the service and five relatives by telephone to gain their views of the service they received. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager and senior who is a registered nurse. We looked at the care plans and records of five people, four staff records including training, supervision and recruitment records and records relating to the management of the service such as policies and procedures.

Updated 18 May 2018

This inspection took place on 28 March 2018. We gave the provider two days’ notice of the inspection as we needed to make sure the manager and staff would be available at the location. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service mainly to older adults. Not everyone using Home Healthcare receives the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

Home Healthcare is an independent care agency providing personal care support to people living in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 21 people using the service. The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

At our last inspection of the service on 11 and 12 May 2017 we found breaches of regulations and took enforcement action serving a warning notice on the provider and registered manager, requiring them to address concerns we had identified. This was because medicines were not always managed and administered safely. Risk assessments were not detailed and did not provide guidance for staff to ensure people's safety and well-being. Staff recruitment systems were not consistently applied. Care plans and records lacked detail. Systems and processes in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service were not established and operated effectively. At this inspection we found significant improvements had been made, the warning notice had been met and all required actions had been completed.

Medicines were managed and administered safely. There were safeguarding policies and procedures in place and staff knew what actions to take to protect people from harm. Risks were assessed, managed and reviewed to ensure people’s needs were safely met. Detailed guidance for staff on managing risk and needs were appropriately documented. Appropriate recruitment checks took place before staff started work and there were enough staff to meet people’s needs. There were systems in place to ensure people were protected from the risk of infections.

Assessments of people’s care and support needs were conducted and documented. Staff completed an induction when they started work and received appropriate training. Staff were aware of the importance of seeking consent and demonstrated good knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. There were arrangements in place to comply with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to meet their nutritional needs where appropriate and people were supported to access health and social care professionals when required.

People told us staff were caring and respectful. People were consulted about their care and were provided with information about the service that met their needs. People received personalised care that met their diverse needs. People knew about the provider’s complaints procedure.

There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service provided. The provider took into account the views of people using the service and staff. There was an out of hours on call system in operation that ensured management support and advice was always available.