Archived: Lifecarers Cherwell

Updated 21 June 2019

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. 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 team consisted of one inspector and an expert by experience (ExE) who carried out telephone calls to seven people and three relatives to gain their views on the service. 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:

Lifecarers Cherwell is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone using Lifecarers Cherwell receives a regulated activity. Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service for people receiving 'personal care'; help with tasks relating to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we consider any wider social care provided.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service four days’ notice of the inspection site visit because we wanted to be sure the registered manager would be available.

Inspection site visit activity started on 3 June 2019 and ended on 4 June 2019. We visited the office location on 3 June 2019 to meet with the registered manager and care manager and to review care records and documents relating to the running of the service.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service and the service provider. We looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

We viewed the homecare website where people can leave their reviews on a service. The most recent review from a relative said they were ‘extremely likely’ to recommend the service to others.

During the visit we looked at three people's care plans and the medicine administration records for two people. We viewed a range of audits and checked recruitment records for two staff and saw evidence of the training staff completed and the support they received. During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager and care manager.

After our site visit we received feedback on the service, via email, from one relative, five care staff and one healthcare professional.

Following on from the visit the registered manager sent us additional evidence.

Updated 21 June 2019

About the service:

Lifecarers Cherwell is a domiciliary care agency (DCA) registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes in the Banbury area. The service supports mainly older people and people with disabilities. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care and support to 31 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

People and relatives spoke positively about the service. One person summarised their thoughts on the service and said, “I am over the moon with them [staff]. I don’t get out much and they go over and above, they [staff] do everything to make my life comfortable.”

People's needs and wishes were fully supported by staff that knew them well. People were respected and valued as individuals. People's care plans and risk assessments described their needs and preferences. These records were person centred and guided staff to support people safely. People were treated with dignity and respect and their independence was promoted.

Medicines were managed safely, and people received their medicines as prescribed. The registered manager recognised and would be implementing more regular checks on medicine administration records (MARS) to ensure these were correctly used.

The culture of the service was one of building positive relationships with people and their relatives. This included offering people a regular and flexible service. People were supported to maintain good health, access healthcare services and meet their nutritional needs.

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 support this practice.

Staff had the right skills, experience and support to meet the needs of people who used the service. There were regular effective checks on staff and their ability to do their jobs in a safe and caring way. Staff were happy with the support and communication they received. They felt their views were listened to.

The service continued to provide safe support to people. The provider followed safe recruitment processes that ensured staff were suitable to work with adults at risk. Risks to people's safety and their environment had been assessed and recorded.

The service continued to have quality assurance systems which looked at different aspects of the service and identified ways to improve the service.

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 2 September 2016).

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled, planned inspection based on the service's previous rating.

Follow up:

Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated as Good.

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