18 April 2018
During a routine inspection
Astha Limited - Leeds is a domiciliary care agency. It is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. The service primarily provides care for people from the Punjabi community. All staff had a knowledge of the specific cultural and religious needs of the Punjabi community and spoke Punjabi as well as English. The service was also able to provide care for people from different backgrounds as well. At the time of our inspection the service was providing services to 13 people. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.
Not everyone using the service receives 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.
There was a registered manager in post at the time of the inspection. 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.
People told us they felt safe. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs safely, and we found staff had been recruited safely. People told us staff were generally on time and communicative if they were delayed.
Medicines were managed safely overall. Staff were trained and provided clear guidance on how to administer different medicines. People told us medicines delivery was safe. However, the recording of self-administered medicines and why medicines were not administered were not always clear.
We have made a recommendation about the management of medicines records.
Risks to people were appropriately assessed and risk assessments were relevant to people’s environment and needs. Staff reduced the risk of infection by using personal protective equipment.
People told us staff were trained to meet their care needs, and staff were supported by the service through effective induction, training, supervision and appraisal.
People told us staff were kind, caring and compassionate. Staff told us how they respected people’s privacy and dignity, and the service demonstrated how it promoted people’s independence through its guidance for staff.
Care plans were written in a person centred way, with detailed guidelines for staff on how to care for people in a way they wanted to be cared for. Care plans were regularly reviewed or in response to a change in circumstances such as a deterioration of mobility.
People knew how to raise complaints through the service’s complaints policy and procedures. People told us that where they had raised issues, they were satisfied with the service’s response.