Archived: Carewatch (Burnley)

Updated 12 October 2017

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 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 took place on 6 and 7 September 2017and we gave the provider 48 hours’ notice, as we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be available to participate in the inspection. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care inspector and three experts by experience. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. The experts by experience contacted people who received support from the service or their relatives by telephone, to gain feedback about the care they received.

Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used the information in the PIR to help with our inspection.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including concerns and safeguarding information.

As part of the inspection we contacted three community healthcare professionals who were involved with the service for feedback about the care provided, including an occupational therapist and a social worker. None of the professionals contacted expressed any concerns about the service. We also contacted the Quality and Contracting Unit at Lancashire County Council and Healthwatch Lancashire for feedback.

As part of the inspection we spoke on the telephone with 20 people who received support from the service and fourteen relatives. We also visited one person at home. We spoke with three care staff, one quality officer, the registered manager and the provider’s regional quality service improvement manager. In addition, we reviewed the care records of four people receiving support. We looked at service records including staff recruitment, supervision and training records, policies and procedures, complaints and compliments records and records of checks that had been completed to monitor the quality of the service being delivered. We also looked at the results of the most recent customer satisfaction survey.

Updated 12 October 2017

We carried out an inspection of Carewatch (Burnley) on 6 and 7 September 2017. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice to ensure that the registered manager would be available when we visited.

Carewatch (Burnley) is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people with a variety of needs including people with a learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder, poor mental health, physical disability, sensory impairment, older people, people who misuse drugs or alcohol, younger adults and people living with dementia. The agency’s office is located in Colne in East Lancashire. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 191 people. This was our first inspection of this service.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager at the service who had been registered with the Commission since February 2015. 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.

During our inspection people told us they received safe care. Staff had a good understanding of how to safeguard vulnerable adults from abuse and were aware of the appropriate action to take if they suspected abuse was taking place.

Records showed that staff had been recruited safely and had received an appropriate induction. Staff received regular supervision and their practice was observed regularly to ensure that they were providing safe care. Staff told us they felt well supported by the registered manager and the office staff.

We found that people’s medicines were being managed safely and people told us they received their medicines when they should. Staff members’ competence to administer medicines safely was assessed regularly.

We found that people were supported with their healthcare needs and were referred to healthcare professionals when appropriate. The community healthcare professionals that we contacted about the service did not express any concerns.

People were happy with the care and support they received from the service. They told us that their care needs were discussed with them and they were involved in decisions about their care.

People told us staff arrived on time and stayed for the full duration of the visit. They told us that when two staff were required to meet people’s needs, two staff always visited.

People liked the staff who supported them and told us they were caring. They told us staff respected their privacy and dignity when providing care and encouraged them to be independent.

Staff understood the main principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). They sought people’s consent and supported people to make everyday decisions about their care. Where people lacked the capacity to make decisions about their care, their relatives had been consulted.

People were asked to give feedback about the service they received during regular reviews and in satisfaction questionnaires. We reviewed the questionnaires from February 2017 and found that people had reported a high level of satisfaction with most aspects of the service.

Most people we spoke with told us they were happy with the management of the service. They found the staff and management team approachable and helpful and knew who to contact if they had any concerns.

We saw evidence that regular audits were completed by the registered manager and the service provider. These checks were effective in ensuring that appropriate levels of care and safety were maintained.