Homecare Services (Bury)

Updated 22 November 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Homecare Services (Bury) is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave 48 hours' notice of the inspection as we needed to make sure the right people were available to answer our questions.

Inspection activity started on 22 October 2019 and ended on 5 November 2019. We spoke with people and their relatives on the telephone on 22 October 2019 and visited the office location on 5 November 2019.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration and we sought feedback from professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and three relatives. We spoke with the registered manager, the care coordinator, two community supervisors, the care mentor and two care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 22 November 2019

About the service

Homecare Services (Bury) is a is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 43

older people.

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

Medicines were administered and audited in line with established best practice. Policies, procedures and staff knowledge reflected this. The registered manager assessed staff competence on a regular basis.

Recruitment procedures were in place and there were enough staff on duty to meet people's needs. Staff received appropriate training and supervision to provide care in a person-centred way.

People were encouraged to maintain levels of independence by staff who had regard to their likes, dislikes and individualities.

People had the right support to eat and drink. There were strong links to local health teams and initiatives to help people stay well and provide effective access to health services.

Care plans contained detailed information with regard to people's support needs and were reviewed regularly. People, and where appropriate their relatives, were involved in the care planning process.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported

this practice.

The management team and staff worked in partnership with health and social care professionals to ensure people received effective care. Systems were in place to manage and respond to complaints and lessons were learnt when things had gone wrong.

The service was well-led by a registered manager who took personal accountability and ensured the culture was open, supportive and inclusive. Record keeping, and quality assurance processes were clear. The registered manager was committed to identifying ways of continually improving the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

This is the first inspection of this service which registered with CQC on 25 October 2018.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the date the service first registered with CQC.