Background to this inspection
Updated
14 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 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.
We gave 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that they would be in. Inspection site visit activity started on 11 January 2018 and ended on 19 January 2018. The inspection was carried out by one 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 inspector visited the office location on 11 January 2018 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. Following our visit the expert by experience telephoned and spoke with four people using the service and three relatives to gain their views.
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. Before the inspection we contacted the local authority commissioning team and Healthwatch, the local consumer champion for health and social care services. We used this information to plan the inspection.
We spoke with the registered manager, two office staff who also delivered care to people and two care workers. We checked care records and associated medicine records for three people who used the service and records relating to the management of the building including a sample of policies and procedures, staff recruitment and training, meeting minutes, surveys, and the staff handbook.
Updated
14 March 2018
This inspection took place between 11 and 19 January 2018. We gave 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that they would be in.
St Margarets Homecare Harrogate is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.
Not everyone using St Margarets Homecare Harrogate receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of our visit there were 99 people using the service.
At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.
The service continued to provide safe care to people. Recruitment checks were completed on all new staff prior to their employment to make sure they were suitable. Appropriate systems were in place to assess and manage potential risks to people including the risk of abuse. Risks to people’s safety and welfare had been assessed and information about how to support people to manage risks was recorded in people's care plan. Systems were in place to ensure people received their medication safely.
Staff received on-going training and supervision to enable them to fulfil their roles effectively. Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities and they told us that senior managers were supportive.
People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.
Staff liaised with healthcare professionals to support people’s health and wellbeing. Staff continued to work collaboratively with the local hospice team in relation to people’s complex care needs and end of life care.
People spoke positively about the staff and they said staff were kind and respectful. People were involved in their care and were supported to remain independent.
Staff were knowledgeable about people’s lifestyle choices and their individual needs and preferences. Care plans were person centred. People told us staff were flexible and accommodated any changes to their requirements wherever possible.
People’s care plans were reviewed to meet their changing needs and staff told us they felt well informed about people’s wellbeing and how to meet their care needs effectively. People told us they had not needed to make a complaint, but they knew who to speak with if they had any concerns. .
The service provider was a partnership. Both partners maintained an active daily presence in the service and one of the partners was also the registered manager. The registered manager, together with senior care staff carried out a range of monitoring checks to drive quality development and make improvements where needed.