The inspection took place on the 10 August 2015 and was unannounced. This service was last inspected in January 2014 and was found to be meeting all the required standards. Since the last inspection the provider has re-registered as a new legal entity and changed their address. This is the first inspection carried out since these changes had taken place.
The service provides care to people in their own homes either by providing short visits to assist with personal care and, or domestic tasks or to provide live in care.
There was a registered manager in post. ‘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 service was well executed and people were happy with the service they received. The manager was proactive in terms of auditing the service and asking people about their experiences to enable them to address any areas of concern.
The main concern people expressed was about the changes to their regular carers and the timekeeping of their visits. However staff told us they mainly had regular rounds and time to make their scheduled calls. We found that there has been a large number of missed calls since the last inspection which meant we were not assured that people always received a safe service although we did recognise that action had recently been taken to improve the reliability of the service.
Staff knew how to report concerns and were confident in doing so to safeguard people in their care.
Risks to people’s safety were eliminated as far as possible as people’s needs were assessed and staff were supported through adequate training and had policies to follow. Medicine practices were robust.
The service had robust recruitment processes to ensure only suitable staff were employed. Once staff were employed they were supported through a good induction process to ensure they had the necessary skills to deliver care effectively.
There were systems in place to ensure staff’s conduct and practice was of a consistently high standard.
Staff had enough understanding of how to support people and to involve people in their care and seek their consent for different aspects of their care and support.
Staff met and monitored people’s health care and dietary needs. They had enough training to enable them to provide individualised care.
The service was responsive to people’s individual needs and staff were sufficiently knowledgeable and caring about people. People’s care plans reflected people’s preferences and choices and people told us staff respected these.
People were consulted about their care and involved in the review of their needs and asked about the service provided to them.
The service was based on an individual assessment of the person’s needs and could be flexible as people’s needs changed.
Complaints were responded to and there was a clear procedure so people would know how to raise a concern and what they could expect from the service.
This was a well led service with a knowledgeable manager and people who felt the service was flexible and responsive to their needs.
There were audits in place to determine how well the service was being delivered which took into account people’s views so the service could be adjusted accordingly.