Archived: Isle of Wight Care at Home Provider

Updated 23 September 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 25 August 2016. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure someone would be in.

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and an expert by experience who had experience of caring for older people. An expert by experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Before the inspection, we checked information we held about the service and the service provider, including previous inspection reports and notifications about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

During the inspection we spoke with seven people who used the service, or their relatives, by telephone. We visited two people in their own homes and received completed surveys from eight people and one health professional also completed a survey. We spoke with the office manager, two office staff and four care staff members. We looked at care records for four people. We also reviewed records about how the service was managed, including staff training and recruitment records.

The agency was last inspected in May 2014, when we did not identify any concerns.

Updated 23 September 2016

This inspection took place on 25 August 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we need to be sure that someone would be available in the office.

Isle of Wight care at Home provider provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection the agency was providing a personal care service to 27 people with a variety of care needs, including people living with a learning disability, physical care needs or memory loss due to progression of age. The agency was providing a service to people across the Isle of Wight.

The agency had a registered manager. 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.

The registered manager had failed to notify CQC about some significant events that happened involving an allegation of abuse and police involvement. Office staff had taken all necessary action to protect people and reported the concerns to the local authority safeguarding team and police.

We received positive feedback from people about the service. All people who used the service expressed great satisfaction and spoke very highly of the staff.

People told us they felt safe and secure when receiving care. Staff received training in safeguarding adults. Staff knew how to recognise and respond to abuse and understood their responsibility to report any concerns.

People’s risk assessments and those relating to their homes’ environment were detailed and helped reduce risks to people while maintaining their independence. Staff were responsive to people’s needs which were detailed in care plans. People told us they had been involved in care planning and care plans reflected people’s individual needs and choices.

People were cared for with kindness and compassion. People who used the service said their privacy and dignity were respected. People were supported to eat and drink when needed and staff contacted healthcare professionals when required. Staff had an understanding of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and were clear that people had the right to make their own choices.

Safe recruitment practices were followed and appropriate checks were undertaken, which helped make sure only suitable staff were employed to care for people in their own homes. There were sufficient numbers of care staff to maintain the schedule of visits. Staff told us they felt supported and received regular supervision and support.

People felt listened to and a complaints procedure was in place. The provider sought feedback from people through the use of a questionnaire. The results from the latest survey were predominately positive.

Systems were in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service people received. Office staff demonstrated strong values and a desire to learn about and implement best practice throughout the service.

We identified a breach of Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009. You can see what action we have taken in the full version of this report.