Nightingales Homecare

Updated 15 December 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

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 a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 1 December 2022 and ended on 7 December 2022.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since its registration, including notifications of significant events. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual about how the service was run. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We spoke with 7 people who used the service and 2 relatives to hear their feedback about the care the agency provided. We reviewed feedback forms received from 2 people who used the service and 2 relatives. We received feedback from 6 staff about the training, support and information they received.

We reviewed care records for 4 people, including their needs assessments, care plans and risk assessments, medicines audits for 2 people, recruitment records for 3 staff, records of training, supervision and spot checks, meeting minutes, satisfaction surveys, policies, quality audits, the complaints log and the business continuity plan.

Updated 15 December 2022

About the service

Nightingales Homecare provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The service was supporting 38 people at the time of our inspection, 34 of whom received personal care.

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 received a reliable service from staff who knew how to provide their care in a safe way. Risk assessments had been carried out to identify and minimise any risks involved in people’s care. People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff helped keep people’s homes clean and wore personal protective equipment (PPE) when they carried out their visits.

Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had. The registered manager had taken action to safeguard people when concerns had been raised about people’s well-being. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.

Staff had an induction when they started work and had access to the training they needed to carry out their roles. Staff had opportunities to discuss their performance and development needs with the management team.

People’s needs were assessed before they began to use the service. People told us their wishes and preferences about their care were listened to and incorporated into their care plans. Staff supported people to maintain good health and responded promptly if people became unwell.

People received their care from consistent staff and had established positive relationships with their care workers. People said staff knew their preferences about their care and respected their choices. Staff supported people to maintain their independence.

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.

Relatives said the management team communicated well with them and kept them informed about their family members’ wellbeing. People had opportunities to give feedback about the care they received and their views were listened to. People told us they would feel comfortable raising concerns if they were dissatisfied.

The management team maintained an effective oversight of quality and safety. Audits of key aspects of the service were completed and spot checks were carried out to observe the care staff provided. Staff were well-supported by the management team. Advice was available to staff when they needed it and team meetings took place to give staff any updates they needed about people’s care.

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 11 October 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

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

Follow up

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