Background to this inspection
Updated
8 July 2016
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 7 June 2016 and was unannounced. The inspection was completed by one inspector.
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. The provider returned the PIR and we took this into account when we made judgements in this report.
We reviewed the information we held about the service, including statutory notifications that the provider had sent us. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. We also contacted health and social care commissioners who place and monitor the care of people living in the home.
During our inspection we spoke with one person who used the service, five relatives, six members of care staff, two members of office staff including a supervisor and scheduler and the registered manager.
We looked at care plan documentation relating to four people, and three staff files. We also looked at other information related to the running of and the quality of the service. This included quality assurance audits, maintenance schedules, training information for care staff, staff duty rotas, meeting minutes and arrangements for managing complaints.
Updated
8 July 2016
This unannounced inspection took place on 7 June 2016. This domiciliary care agency specialises in supporting people with dementia to receive personal care in their own homes. The service provides support to people in the North and South of Northamptonshire and at the time of the inspection there were 89 people receiving support with their personal care.
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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People received safe care and support. Staff understood the need to protect people from harm and knew what action they should take if they had any concerns. There were sufficient staff to meet the needs of people that used the service and recruitment procedures protected people from receiving unsafe care from staff unsuited to the job.
Care records contained risk assessments to protect people from identified risks and helped to keep them safe. They gave information for staff on the identified risk and informed staff of the measures to take to minimise any risks.
People received care from staff that were supported in their roles by senior staff. They received support and guidance at regular intervals to ensure they were providing high quality care. Staff received training in key areas of care, which enabled them to understand the care needs of each person.
People were actively involved in decisions about their care and support needs. There were formal systems in place to assess people’s capacity for decision making under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. In addition, people were supported to identify and respond to their changing healthcare needs, for example by identifying the early onset of an infection and receiving prompt treatment.
People received care from staff that were kind and friendly. Staff understood people’s needs and ensured people were given choices about how they wished to receive their care. People received care at their own pace and had their privacy and dignity maintained when receiving assistance with their personal care.
People’s care needs were assessed to ensure the service could meet people’s expectations before they began using the service. Care plans were written in a person centred manner and gave guidance about the care people required. They detailed how people wished to be supported and people were fully involved in making decisions about their care. People received the care they needed and a suitable complaints procedure was in operation to resolve any concerns people raised.
People who used the service, relatives and staff had positive relationships with the registered manager and the culture within the service focussed upon supporting people’s health and well-being which enabled people to stay in their own homes as long as possible. Systems were in place to identify where improvements were required and for people and staff to provide feedback about the service.