Olive Tree Domiciliary Services Ltd

Updated 5 March 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider was 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 was a comprehensive inspection.

This inspection took place on 31January and 1 February 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection, as this is a small service and we wanted to be sure that the registered manager would be available to participate in the inspection. The inspection was carried out by an adult social care 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. The expert by experience supporting this inspection had expertise in the support of people with a learning disability. The expert by experience contacted people who received support from the service or their relatives by telephone, to gain feedback about the care provided.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications we had received from the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We contacted five community health and social care professionals who were involved with the service for their comments, including social workers, community nurses and an advocate. We also contacted Lancashire County Council contracts team and Healthwatch Lancashire for feedback about the service.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we spoke with one person who received support from the service and nine relatives. We were unable to speak with a number of people being supported by the service due to their complex needs. We also spoke with two support workers, two support co-ordinators and the registered manager. We reviewed the care records of three people who received support from the service. In addition, we looked at service records including staff recruitment, supervision and training records, policies and procedures, complaints and compliments records, audits of quality and safety, fire safety and environmental health records.

Updated 5 March 2018

Olive Tree Domiciliary Services Limited is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care and support to people with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder and older people. At the time of our inspection the service was providing support to 12 people.

At the last inspection the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

We found that staff had been recruited safely. The staff we spoke with were aware of how to safeguard adults at risk. There were safe processes and practices in place for the management and administration of medicines.

People were usually supported by a small team of support workers. One person supported by the service told us they knew the staff who supported them and liked them. Relatives told us they were happy with the staff who supported their family members.

Staff received appropriate training. Relatives felt that staff had the knowledge and skills to meet people’s needs.

People received appropriate support with eating and drinking and their healthcare needs. Appropriate referrals were made to community health and social care professionals.

Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and encouraged them to be as independent as possible.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way; the policies and systems at the service supported this practice. Where people lacked the capacity to make decisions about their care, the service had taken appropriate action in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

We saw evidence that people received care that reflected their needs, risks and preferences. Where appropriate, relatives had been consulted about people’s care and were updated by staff regularly.

We received positive feedback from one person being supported and relatives about the activities available. We found that people were supported regularly to take part in a variety of activities in the provider’s learning centre and the community.

Staff used a variety of methods to communicate effectively with people, including Makaton and providing information in a pictorial format.

The service had a registered manager in post. Relatives and staff told us they were happy with how the service was being managed.

The registered manager had sought regular feedback from the people supported, relatives and staff about the care and support provided. A high level of satisfaction had been expressed about most areas of the service. Where improvements had been suggested, we found evidence that action had been taken.

Audits of many aspects of the service had been completed regularly. We found the audits completed were effective in ensuring that appropriate levels of quality and safety were maintained at the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.