Archived: Right at Home Croydon

Updated 2 September 2015

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.

This inspection took place on 30 July and 4 August 2015. The first day’s inspection visit to the agency office was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. One inspector undertook this inspection.

We reviewed the information we held about the service including notifications. Notifications are about events that the provider is required to inform us of by law. We looked at the Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR 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.

During the inspection we looked at the care plans for five people, staff recruitment procedures and the personnel files for six staff members, the staff training and induction records for the staff team. The care records included needs assessments, risk assessments, medicine records and care plans. We met with the provider, the registered manager, a senior care worker, and observed a training session being delivered to four new staff. We spoke with five people who used the service, three relatives, and four care workers.

Updated 2 September 2015

Right at Home Croydon provides personal care to people living in their own homes. We undertook an inspection visit to the service on 30 July 2015. The agency was first registered in January 2015, and this was the first inspection of the service. The registered manager told us 12 people were using the service when we inspected the service. We found that it met all the regulations.

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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People’s needs were first assessed and care plans were developed to identify the care and support people required. Assessments were undertaken to assess any risks to the people using the service and to the staff supporting them. This included environmental risks and any risks due to people’s health and support needs. The risk assessments included information about actions needed to be taken to minimise the risks. Staff were aware of the risks to people’s welfare and safety and knew how to keep people safe, and ensured people got the support they needed with managing any on-going health conditions. Staff supported people as required with mobilising safely and with their home security.

People said they received the care and support they needed and care staff arrived at the time agreed. People experienced consistency, the staff team was small and if someone was off they were usually familiar with the replacement staff member.

Staff helped promote individuals’ independence by encouraging people to undertake tasks themselves when able. The service had appropriate arrangements in place to ensure people needing support with taking their medicines received their medicines safely.

People told us that nothing was done without their consent. Staff understood that care could only be given if the person consented and also the principles of personalised care. Staff enabled people to make choices about day to day decisions, and offered advice to people to ensure their needs were met. Staff had awareness of the Mental Capacity (MCA) Act 2005. We found that the MCA was being adhered to.

People found that care workers who visited were caring and considerate and trained to respond to the needs of people, especially those living with dementia. Staff received training and development to develop the knowledge and skills needed to undertake their roles, and they received regular support and supervision from their manager. Vetting procedures were thorough and recruitment checks were undertaken on all care staff before they started to work for the service, these processes ensured that only suitable staff were recruited to provide care and support to people.

The service was well led by an experienced manager who was committed to achieving the best for the people that used the service. The registered manager undertook checks on the quality of the service, and people had confidence they would take any necessary action if needed to address any concerns. The registered manager had a quality monitoring process in place to obtain the views of people, their relatives, and other health and social care professionals on the quality of the service.