1 June 2018
During a routine inspection
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. At the time of our inspection the service was providing personal care and support to one older adult in the London Borough of Bromley. Because of this, we were unable to gather enough information about the experiences of people using the service to provide a rating against the five key questions, ‘Is the service safe?’, ‘Is the service effective?’, ‘Is the service caring?’, ‘Is the service responsive?’ and ‘Is the service well-led?’, and therefore we were unable to provide an overall rating for 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 this inspection we found breaches of regulations because risks to people were not always safely managed, the support people received to take medicines was not always accurately recorded, and because the provider did not follow safe recruitment practices. We also found improvement was required because the provider’s quality assurance systems did not always identify issues or drive improvements, and because the provider’s policies and procedures did not always provide clear of accurate guidance for staff or the people using the service.
People were protected from the risk of abuse because staff were aware of the action to take if they suspected abuse had occurred. There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people’s needs. Staff worked in ways which protected people from the risk of infection. The registered manager reviewed accident and incident reports in order to identify trends and reduce the risk of repeat occurrence.
People’s needs were assessed to ensure the service was able to provide them with effective care and support. Staff received an induction when they started work and received support in their roles through training and regular supervision. People were supported to maintain a balanced diet where this was part of their assessed need. They also had access to a range of healthcare services when required to maintain good health.
Staff sought people’s consent when offering them support. 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. Staff treated people with dignity and respected their privacy. People told us they had developed positive relationships with the staff who supported them and that staff were caring in their approach.
People were involved in decisions about their care and treatment, and received support which reflected their individual needs and preferences. Staff supported people to maintain their independence. People knew how to make a complaint if they needed to and expressed confidence that any issues they raised would be appropriately addressed.
The registered manager told us the service was committed to working with other agencies where required to ensure people received a good quality service. People and staff spoke positively about the registered manager and their management of the service. The provider sought people’s views on the service through quality assurance checks and the feedback they received showed that people were experiencing positive outcomes from the support they received.