My Homecare Ripon

Updated 22 September 2022

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.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 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 team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience made telephone calls to people and their relatives to collect their views. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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. At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. The registered manager had recently left the service and the Branch manager was in place managing the service and recruitment for a registered manager had commenced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. 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 spent time at the office to review records and spoke with the manager, deputy manager and area manager.

We reviewed a range of records. These included four people’s care records, and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and procedures..

After the inspection

We carried out telephone interviews with two people who use the service, six relatives and five members of support staff while continuing to seek clarification from the provider to corroborate evidence found. We looked at audits, care plans, reports and policies.

Updated 22 September 2022

About the service

My Homecare Harrogate is a care at home service providing personal care to 20 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.

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

People were supported to have choice and control of their own lives where possible and where people needed support from others to make decisions or lacked capacity this wasn’t always recorded appropriately. We have made a recommendation in the effective key question of this report to improve these practices.

People and their relatives gave us mixed feedback regarding their call times and the manager confirmed recent staffing issues had impacted on some calls and recruitment plans were in place to resolve this.

People received person-centred support and staff knew people well. People and their relatives told us they were happy with the care they received. Peoples care plans covered all aspects of people’s lives and their preferences to ensure a personalised experience. People’s health and well-being needs were supported from the staff team who encouraged people to develop. People were empowered to have their say and to exercise their rights. Access to an advocacy service was available and used when needed.

Medicines were safely administered and recorded accurately. Individualised risk assessments were in place. Staff were confident they would raise concerns to safeguard people. Robust recruitment and selection procedures ensured suitable staff were employed. Staff were recruited safely and were trained to support people’s individual needs while ensuring their safety. People were supported by staff who encouraged people’s independence and were trained in dignity and respect.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 18 June 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned first rating inspection. We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.