Archived: Lancashire Regional Office

Updated 26 July 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 was carried out on the 18 & 19 May 2016. As the agency was small we announced our inspection. This was to ensure the registered provider was available. At the time of the inspection Lancashire Regional Office provided care and support to 45 people. In addition the service provided crisis care. This is a service funded by commissioners where an emergency support package is provided for a short space of time.

The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information the Care Quality Commission (CQC) holds about Lancashire Regional Office. This included any statutory notifications, adult safeguarding information and comments and concerns. This helped us plan the inspection effectively.

During the inspection we spoke with five people who received care and support from Lancashire Regional Office and three relatives. We spoke with the regional manager, the office manager and five care staff. We also spoke with a team leader and the company trainer.

We looked at a range of documentation which included four care records and four staff files. We looked at computerised training records, and a sample of medication and administration records. Following the inspection we asked for further care documentation to be sent to us. This was not provided.

Updated 26 July 2016

This comprehensive inspection was carried out on the 18 & 19 May 2016. Lancashire Regional Office is registered as a domiciliary care agency with the Care Quality Commission. As the agency is small we gave 24 hours’ notice of our inspection. This was because we needed to ensure there was a member of staff available.

The office is based in Fleetwood with limited parking available at the front of the office. At the time of the inspection Lancashire Regional Office supported 45 people with care and support needs. In addition the service provides a ‘crisis’ service. This is a service funded by commissioners where an emergency support package is provided for a short space of time. An out of hours contact number is provided for use in the event of an emergency.

At the time of inspection there was no manager who was registered with the Care Quality Commission. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission 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.

At this inspection carried out in May 2016, we found there were systems in place to ensure people who used the service were protected from the risk of harm and abuse. Staff we spoke with were knowledgeable of the action to take if they had concerns in this area. They told us the registered provider encouraged concerns to be raised.

Staff were knowledgeable of peoples’ assessed needs and delivered care in accordance with these. Staff spoke respectfully of the people they supported. People who received care and support told us their dignity was upheld when they received care and support.

There were arrangements in place to ensure people received their medicines safely.

We found recruitment was taking place to ensure sufficient staff were employed and existing staff were able to carry out their defined roles. We have made a recommendation regarding the deployment of staff at the agency. Staffing was arranged to ensure people received care and support at the time they wanted, or as required if the person received crisis care. Sufficient recruitment checks were carried out prior to staff starting work with the agency.

Training was in place to ensure staff were enabled to give care that met peoples’ needs. However we noted staff had not had training in food hygiene and supervisions and appraisals were not consistently completed. We have made a recommendation regarding this.

There was a complaints policy in place, which was understood by staff and was available to people who used the service. People were encouraged to give feedback to staff, which was acted upon.

People told us they were happy with the care and support provided by Lancashire Regional Office. People described the help they received and commented, “It’s a fantastic service.” And, “I’m really happy with everything they do.”

Surveys and checks on the quality of the service provided were not consistently completed. The regional manager explained local checks and audits would recommence when the newly employed manager started work at the service. This was a breach of Regulation 17 (Good governance.)

You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of this report.