Impressions Care House

Updated 4 March 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was undertaken by an inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 30 December 2022 and ended on 19 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on 30 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since its registration. We used information gathered as part of monitoring activity that took place on 27 September 2022 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and domiciliary care manager. Two staff provided feedback by email. We used a relative’s feedback about the service following the monitoring activity in September 2022, also feedback the service had received from both people and their relatives through questionnaires and discussions. Following our site visit, the domiciliary care manager forwarded feedback they received by email from a healthcare professional. We used electronic file sharing to enable us to review care documentation, as well as reviewing records held at the service’s office. We viewed two care records, two staff files and various records relating to the management of the service, including staff training and supervision records, incident and accident records, quality assurance records.

Updated 4 March 2023

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.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

About the service

Impressions Care House (known as Impressions Care) is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to 2 people at the time of the inspection. Rather than making short visits to people, staff are rostered to spend several hours with them at a time.

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

Right Support:

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.

Staff worked closely with healthcare professionals, especially GPs and district nurses, to provide care at the end of life for people who wished to die at home. Where people had chosen to discuss their preferences for end of life care, these were clearly documented.

Right Care:

People’s care was tailored to their needs. The service had received positive feedback from relatives and professionals about the standard of care.

People had small, regular teams of staff who got to know them well. Staff received the training and support they needed to be able to perform well in their roles. There were enough staff to cover people’s care. There were robust pre-employment checks that staff were suited to work in social care.

Staff treated people respectfully, upholding their privacy and dignity. Confidential information was kept secure.

Right Culture:

Staff respected and fostered people’s independence. Risks were managed in way that was tailored to the individual and reflected their preferences. Managers and staff worked closely with healthcare professionals to help ensure the best outcomes for people.

People’s communication needs were assessed and addressed in their care plans. We have made a recommendation about recording communication needs.

Relatives and staff found the management team to be approachable, compassionate and fair. The management team promoted an open, inclusive culture where people’s needs and wishes were the central focus. The registered manager and domiciliary care manager maintained a close overview of the service to assure themselves people were receiving support of a high standard.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 9 June 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Recommendations

We have made a recommendation about recording people’s communication needs.

Follow up

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