Archived: AccuroCare West Herts

Updated 11 March 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 and 30 November 2015. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because as the service was a care agency we needed to be sure that they would be available on the day of the inspection.

The inspection team was made up of 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.

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. We also reviewed information available to us about the service such as information from the local authority, information received about the service and notifications. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

During our inspection we spoke with five care workers, one workforce development officer, one quality and compliance officer and the director.

We reviewed the care records, risk assessments, medicines administration records (MAR) and daily records of ten people who used the service. We reviewed how complaints were managed, looked at six staff records and the training records for all the staff employed at the service. We reviewed information on how the quality of the service was monitored and managed.

Following our visit to the service’s office we spoke with seven people who used the service and a relative of one person by telephone to ask for their views of the service.

Updated 11 March 2016

This inspection took place on 25 and 30 November 2015, and it was announced. This was the first inspection at the service since registering with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

AccuroCare West Herts is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support for people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection they were providing a service to approximately 50 people.

The service has a registered manager as required by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 told us that they felt safe and were supported by consistent staff who were knowledgeable and skilled. Staff understood their responsibilities with regards to safeguarding people and they had received effective training. There were systems in place to safeguard people from the risk of possible harm.

The service had robust recruitment procedures in place. Staff were competent in their roles and were supported by way of spot checks, supervisions and appraisals. These were consistently completed for all staff and used to improve and give feedback on performance.

People’s needs had been assessed and they had been involved in planning their care and deciding in which way their care was provided. Each person had a detailed care plan which included personalised risk assessments that gave guidance to staff on how individual risks to people could be minimised.

Staff were kind, polite and friendly. They provided care in a courteous manner, treating people with respect. Staff promoted and maintained people’s dignity and provided encouragement to people throughout their support.

There was a clear management structure at the service and people, their relatives and staff knew who to raise concerns to. There was an open culture and senior members of staff were approachable. The provider had an effective process for handling complaints and concerns. These were recorded, investigated, responded to and included actions to prevent recurrence.

Feedback on the service provided was encouraged and action plans had been developed to address any issues raised within audit processes and surveys, with a view to continuously improve the service.