6 November 2017
During a routine inspection
Ark Home Healthcare Leeds is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people in their own homes within the Leeds area. Ark Home Healthcare Leeds was registered with CQC in December 2016 and this was the first inspection of the service.
The service provides care for people living with Dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions, physical disabilities and substance misuse problems for people under and over the age of 65. At the time of our inspection there were 292 people using this service.
The service had a manager who was in the process of applying to the CQC for registration. 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.
We found medicines were administered safely but administration was not always recorded correctly. Staff signatures to confirm they had supported people to take their medicines and other information written on the Medicines Administration Record Sheets (MARs) were not always recorded.
Regular audits had recently been introduced but prior to this there had been no consistency in monitoring and guiding improvements to the service being provided.
Some people who used the service did not have capacity to make decisions. We found people's care records did included capacity assessments and best interest forms however, not all relevant health professionals had been documented on the forms to be contacted if a best interest decision was needed.
People told us they felt safe when being supported by staff. Staff had a clear understanding of the relevant policies and procedures relating to safeguarding and whistleblowing.
Risk assessments were completed and reviewed to support people with specific needs to avoid any harm.
Staffing levels were adequate to meet people's needs. Staff were recruited in line with the providers policy, inductions took place and staff received appropriate training.
People were supported with their nutritional and fluid intake. People were also supported with their health needs.
People using the service and staff had positive relationships and people told us they felt well cared for.
People were encouraged to be independent and make choices regarding their care. Staff respected people's privacy and dignity when in their home.
Care plans were detailed and included relevant information such as initial assessments of need and instructions for staff to follow. People received personalised care which responded to their specific needs and preferences. Not all care plans had been updated to the new personalised planning however, the manager had an action plan for this and we saw this had been started.
Complaints had been responded to and appropriate outcomes had been recorded. Incident and
accidents were managed and people using the service told us they felt confident to discuss any concerns with the provider. Lessons learnt were implemented to ensure practice was improved when incidents occurred.
All of the people we spoke with said the manager was approachable, supportive and listened to others.
Staff meetings took place and staff were encouraged to discuss proposed improvements for the service.
The manager provided clear visions for the future of the service and how improvements could be implemented.
Surveys were provided to people using the service, their relatives and staff to monitor the quality of the care provided.