Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire

Updated 30 April 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide 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: Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to older people living in their own homes.

At the time of the inspection the service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. A manager had recently been appointed and told us they were planning on registering to become the registered manager.

Notice of inspection: We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit as we needed to be sure that the manager would be available to speak with us.

What we did: Before the inspection we reviewed information available to us about this service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse; and we sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch about the service. The provider sent us a provider information return prior to the 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 the manager and three staff. We spoke to seven people who used the service and three relatives and a health care professional. We looked at four people's care records, including their initial assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at medication administration records (MARs) and a selection of documentation about the management and running of the service. This included quality assurance information, audits, recruitment information for three staff, training records, policies and procedures, complaints and staff rotas.

Updated 30 April 2019

About the service: Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. The service was providing a regulated activity of personal care to 23 older people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: People and their relatives without exception gave positive feedback about their experience of the service and the care they received. They told us they felt very safe and secure with the staff.

People were supported by a consistent team of staff and new staff were introduced at a time and pace that worked for people. People were protected from avoidable harm and abuse by staff who could identify and report safeguarding concerns. People's medicines were administered as prescribed and this was closely monitored. Staff understood people's needs and risks to their safety. Risk assessments guided staff on how to safely meet people's needs.

There were enough skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs. An induction was completed by new staff. Staff received appropriate training and support to enable them to perform their roles effectively. Recruitment processes were in place and followed.

Staff were respectful and built trusting relationships with people. They supported people to maintain their dignity and independence. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were trained in mental capacity legislation and understood their responsibilities. They gained consent before providing care and supported people to make their own decisions and choices.

Care plans contained current and personalised information that supported staff to provide person-centred care. Staff worked with professionals and responded to their advice, to ensure people's needs were met.

People were encouraged to pursue their interests and to maintain important relationships. People had end of life care plans in place which identified their wishes.

People were confident their concerns or complaints would be addressed promptly and processes in place aided this.

The manager was committed to providing a high-quality, person-centred service. They had an open and honest approach and supported staff. The manager used audits to monitor the quality and safety of the service. They listened to people's feedback and responded to issues and concerns to continually improve 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: Good (Published 19 August 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule or sooner if we receive information of concern.