Archived: Ashton Domiciliary Care Agency

Updated 21 September 2016

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection checked 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 took place on 30 August 2016 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours notice of the inspection because it was a domiciliary care service and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available.

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection, we asked the provider to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. They returned the PIR in good time and we used all this information together with other information we held about the service and the service provider to decide which areas to focus on during our inspection. This also included any statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law.

During our inspection we looked at care plans, risk assessments, incident records and medicines records for three people. We looked at training and recruitment records for three members of staff. We also looked at a range of records relating to the management of the service such as staff rotas, complaints, records, quality audits and policies and procedures.

We spoke with six people who receive a service from Ashton Domiciliary Care Agency, to ask them their views of the service they received. We also spoke to the registered manager and five members of staff.

The last inspection of the service was carried out in January 2014 and no concerns were identified.

Updated 21 September 2016

Ashton Domiciliary Care Agency provides care for people in their own homes. On the day of our visit the service was providing personal care to 24 people with a range of needs including older persons, people with mental health issues and those living with dementia.

The service had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People, and their relatives, said they felt safe with the staff. There were policies and procedures regarding the safeguarding of adults. Staff were aware of the correct procedures to follow if they considered someone was being neglected or poorly treated.

People received a reliable service from regular staff. There were sufficient numbers of suitably experienced staff employed to meet people’s needs. Thorough recruitment processes were in place for newly appointed staff to check they were suitable to work with people who may be at risk.

People were supported by staff to take their medicines and this was recorded in their care records. Checks were carried out to ensure staff were competent to administer medicines and that staff were following the correct procedures.

Each person had a care plan which gave guidance to staff on supporting people safely. Risks to people were assessed and recorded. These included environmental assessments for people’s homes so staff knew any risks and what they should do to keep people and themselves safe.

There was suitable training, support and induction for staff so they could support people effectively. Staff told us they received regular training and that they had a good induction before they started to provide support to people.

People told us their care workers obtained their consent when providing care and support. Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA)) 2005 and associated legislation. There was information in the staff handbook to guide staff if they thought a person lacked capacity to consent.

People were supported to eat and drink in line with their individual needs. The agency supported people to access healthcare professionals when needed.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring. People were able to express their views and said they were encouraged to be independent as possible. People said they were treated with dignity and respect. A complaints procedure was in place that enabled people to raise concerns.

People said their needs were regularly reviewed and they were contacted on a regular basis to ensure that their current up to date needs were being met.

The provider had a policy and procedure for quality assurance. The manager and senior staff carried out checks to monitor the quality of the service provided. Quality assurance surveys were sent out to people, relatives and staff each year by the provider to seek their views on the service provided by Ashton Domiciliary Care Agency.