22 to 23 January 2015
During a routine inspection
We carried out an announced inspection of the service on 22 and 23 January 2015. Future Home Care Limited Nottinghamshire is a service that provides personal care services and support for people who are living with disabilities to live where and with whom they want, for as long as they want, with the on-going support needed to sustain that choice.
On the day of our inspection 29 people were using the service and there was a registered manager in place.
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.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) and to report on what we find. The DoLS are part of the MCA. They aim to make sure that people are looked after in a way that does not restrict their freedom. The safeguards should ensure that a person is only deprived of their liberty in a safe and correct way, and that this is only done when it is in the best interests of the person and there is no other way to look after them. There were no DoLS currently in place, but the registered manager was aware of the principles of DoLS and how these would be implemented if needed.
People who used the service were protected from abuse by staff who could identify the different types of abuse and knew who to report their concerns to. People were provided with information on how they could report abuse in a format they could understand. People we spoke with did not raise any concerns with us that they thought they had been discriminated against and staff could explain how they protected people from discrimination.
People had risks explained to them and were supported by staff if they wished to take these risks. People had risks to their support assessed and staff recommendations made by their manager were followed by the staff. Accidents and incidents were investigated thoroughly and plans were in place to evacuate people safely in an emergency. There were safe recruitment procedures in place before staff commenced their role.
People’s medicines were stored, handled and administered safely. Protocols were in place that ensured there was a safe and consistent approach by staff when administering ‘as needed’ medicines to people.
Staff received an appropriate induction and training in order to provide effective support for people. Staff received regular assessment of their work and areas of improvement were discussed with them in order to ensure people received effective support.
People were supported by staff who used a variety of techniques to communicate effectively with them. Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and how to incorporate into the role. People were not unlawfully restricted or restrained. People could see external health care professionals when they wanted to.
People were supported by staff who were kind and caring. The staff were aware of people’s likes, dislikes and personal histories and used the knowledge to form friendly and caring relationships with people. People told us they felt listened to and their views were welcomed and acted on. People had access to and where appropriate, were supported by, an Independent Mental Capacity Act Advocate (IMCA) to make major decisions where needed.
People’s privacy was respected by staff and staff supported people in a dignified way. There were no restrictions on relatives visiting people.
People records and the support they received were person centred. People could access the hobbies and interests that were important to them. People were encouraged to seek employment and to make links the local community. External professionals or specialists were used to offer guidance to staff when specific support needs had been identified. People were encouraged to be as independent as they could be.
There was a strong, visible management team in place. People and staff knew who their manager was and felt they could approach them to discuss any concerns they had. There were robust auditing procedures in place that identified risks to individuals and the service as a whole. Action plans were formed and reviewed regularly to deal with these risks.