Stoke Heath Homecare Ltd

Stoke Heath Homecare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection 33 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care from the service provider. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence, and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: The service worked with people to plan for when they experienced periods of distress so that their freedoms were restricted only if there was no alternative. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff provided them with care in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service promoted this practice. The service made reasonable adjustments for people so they could be fully involved in discussions about how they received support, including support to travel wherever they needed to go. Staff enabled people to access specialist health and social care services in the community. Staff supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Staff communicated with people in ways that met their needs.

Right Care: People and their relatives told us they were not always treated with dignity and respect. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it. People were able to communicate with staff and understand information given to them because staff supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People’s care, treatment and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life.

Right Culture: We received mixed but mostly negative feedback on how people and their relatives were being involved in their care. People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and staff. People were supported by staff who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. This meant people received compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 18 August 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

There was 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People received safe care from care staff that protected them from the risk of potential abuse. People were supported to remain safe and had their individual risks recorded and reviewed. The plans in place showed staff how to manage people’s identified risks and prevent risk of harm or injury. People who had support with their medicines had them administered when needed, from care staff who were trained and competent to do so.

Staff received training and talked with us about their knowledge and their roles and responsibilities. Their skills, knowledge and experience supported people with their care and support needs. 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 told us they arranged their own healthcare appointments and that care staff were helpful in providing reminders of appointments.

People received care from staff they knew and were consistent in their approach to care. People were able to direct staff about the specific care on each call. People’s dignity had been supported and staff were respectful of people’s human rights. People’s views and decisions were recorded in their care plans, which had been regularly reviewed and changed when needed. People had the information in their home about how to make a complaint should they wish to do so.

People received regular contact from the management team to ask about the standard of care and they were always able to talk with them about any concerns if needed. Staff spoke with the registered manager who was also the provider to give feedback on the service. The registered manager told us they kept their knowledge current and provided staff with input and direction about the levels of care they expected with regular meetings and supervisions. The management team monitored the quality of the care that people received, that included reviewing records and observing staff practices.