Woodfield 24 Care Services

Updated 24 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 registered provider was 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.

The inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector and included a visit to the agency’s office on 26 March 2018. To make sure key staff were available to assist in the inspection the registered provider was given short notice of the visit, in line with our current methodology for inspecting domiciliary care agencies.

To help us to plan and identify areas to focus on in the inspection we considered all the information we held about the service. Before the inspection, the registered provider had also completed 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 requested the views of other agencies that worked with the service, such as service commissioners, healthcare professionals, social workers and Healthwatch Doncaster, by email or using questionnaires. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England.

Due to the nature of the service provided we were unable to consult directly with people who used the service due to their poor health. However, we spoke with eight relatives whose family members were using the agency at the time of our inspection, or had used it recently. We also sampled feedback forms and telephone consultations received by the registered provider.

We spoke with the registered manager and 10 staff; this included the deputy manager, a care coordinator, the administrator, senior care workers and care workers. This was done either face to face or on the telephone. We also considered the outcome of 20 questionnaires returned to us by staff.

We looked at documentation relating to people who used the service, staff and the management of the service. This included four people’s care records, four staff recruitment files, training and support documentation. We also looked at how the agency gained people’s views on the service provided, as well as checks made to ensure company policies were being followed.

Updated 24 May 2018

Woodfield 24 is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. It provides a service to older and younger adults as they approach the end of their life. Care and support is co-ordinated from the services office, which is based at St Catherine’s House in Balby. At the time of our inspection there were 20 people receiving care and support from the service.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for ‘Woodfield 24 Care Services’ on our website at www.cqc.org.uk’

Since the last inspection a registered manager had been appointed. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service and has the legal responsibility for meeting the requirements of the law; as does the registered provider.

All the people we spoke with were extremely happy with the quality of the care the service provided. Staff spoke with passion and commitment about how they cared for people and supported their family members. People’s privacy was respected and they were treated with dignity, kindness and compassion. People were supported to maintain relationships with people who were important to them.

There were systems in place to reduce the risk of abuse and to assess and monitor potential risks to individual people. Incidents and accidents were monitored and action was taken to reduce risks to people.

People were encouraged to manage their own medication if they were able to, while other people were supported by their close family. When assistance was required appropriate support was provided by staff who had been trained to carry out this role.

Recruitment processes were robust, which helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff. Staff had undertaken a range of training and support that aimed to meet people’s needs while developing staffs’ knowledge and skills.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s needs had been assessed before their care package started and where possible they or their relatives had been involved in formulating their care plans. Staff worked closely with other healthcare professionals to ensure people received a seamless service that met all their needs.

The people we spoke with told us they knew how to raise any concerns and said they felt comfortable doing so. When concerns had been raised we saw the correct procedure had been used to record, investigate and resolve them.

People were consulted about their satisfaction in the service received and systems were in place to make sure company policies were followed. All the people we spoke with, including staff, told us they were very happy with the way the service was run. People spoke positively about the registered manager and how staff delivered care.

Further information is in the detailed findings below