Archived: Bramble Home Care - Worcester

Updated 14 April 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 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 took place on 15 February 2017and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours' notice, because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available at the office. The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

We looked at information we held about the provider and the service. This included information received from the statutory notifications the provider had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to end to us by law. We also sought information from the local authority who commission services on behalf of people. We used this information to help us plan this inspection.

During our inspection visit we spoke with the registered manager, who was also the provider and to the care manager. We looked at the care records of three people, staff recruitment files, staff training, accident records, complaints and compliments and records regarding the provider’s quality assurance checks.

Following our visit to the office we spoke with five people who used the service, six relatives and six members of staff. We left messages for a further four members of staff asking them to call us back who did not return our calls. These telephone calls were to seek their views about the care and support provided to people.

Updated 14 April 2017

This inspection took place on 15 February 2017 and was announced. At the time of our inspection 47 people received care and support services. The provider employed 21 members of care staff to provider personal care to people in either their own homes or a family member’s home.

At the time of our inspection there was not 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. A manager was in post and they were in the process of applying to the Care Quality Commission for their registration. Following this inspection we were informed by the manager they had submitted their application.

The provider was registered in February 2016 and has not been previously inspected.

The manager was aware of the need to improve on systems to monitor call times and was introducing new methods from staff to log in and out of calls. Call times were not always on time and people’s expectations were not always met regarding when staff arrived at their home.

People felt safe while they received care and support from the staff attending their call. The manager and other staff members had received training and they understood their responsibility to report abuse. Risks assessments were undertaken in people’s own homes to maintain the safety of people and staff who visited them in their own homes.

Staff were available to meet the current needs of people. New staff had recently been recruited to reduce the need for staff to work additional hours. Recruitment procedures were in place to check potential employee’s suitability. Newly appointed staff shadowed more experience staff initially as part of their induction training.

Staff received support from the manager and other staff to ensure they had the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs. People’s healthcare needs were met as required for example through the administration of people’s medicines or by contacting healthcare professionals as needed.

People’s consent to care and support was gained by staff who also knew of the importance to help maintain people’s independence. People’s privacy and dignity was maintained while personal care was provided.

Management systems were in place and people’s opinions about the service provided were in place. These enabled the manager to look at where improvements were needed to the service. The manager was aware of improvements needed in the monitoring and auditing of people’s care records.