Ashrey Care

Updated 3 May 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type:

Ashrey Care is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to people of all ages and different abilities. At the time of inspection, the service provided care to eight people, two of which received personal care. CQC only inspect the service 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.

The home had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

This was a comprehensive inspection, which took place on 9 April 2019 and was announced. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We gave the provider notice of our inspection as we needed to make sure that someone was at the office in order for us to carry out the inspection.

What we did:

Before the inspection we looked at information we held about the service. This information included any statutory notifications that the provider had sent to the CQC. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return [PIR] in October 2018. 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. We used this to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager. Following the inspection, we spoke with two care support staff. The two people who received care from the service had limited communication and therefore we spoke with their relatives.

We reviewed a variety of records which related to people's individual care and the running of the service. These records included care files of two people using the service, two staff employment records and quality monitoring records.

Updated 3 May 2019

About the service:

Ashrey Care is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to people of all ages and different abilities. At the time of inspection, the service provided care to eight people, two of which received personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

Relatives told us they were satisfied with the level of care and services provided to people and spoke positively about care support staff and management. They said they were confident that people were treated with respect and dignity and were safe when cared for by care support staff.

Systems were in place to help ensure people were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff records indicated that staff had received safeguarding training. Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns or allegations of abuse. Risks to people had been assessed, updated and regularly reviewed to ensure people were safe and risks to people in relation to treatment or care were minimised.

The registered manager confirmed the service did not currently administer medicines to people. We therefore did not look at how the service managed medicines during this inspection.

People were protected from the risks associated with poor infection control because the service had processes in place to reduce the risk of infection and cross contamination.

Feedback from relatives indicated that staff were punctual and there were no issues in relation to this. There was evidence that people received care from the same staff and there was consistency in the level of care they received.

The registered manager and care support staff had the necessary knowledge and skills they needed to carry out their roles and responsibilities. Staff had received induction to the agency as well as training to ensure they had skills to support people. Staff received supervision and appraisals of their skills from the management team to help them to support people effectively.

Feedback from relatives indicated that positive relationships had developed between people using the service and staff. Relatives told us that staff had a good understanding of and were aware of the importance of treating people with respect and dignity and always did this. The registered manager and care support staff were aware of the importance of ensuring people were given a choice and promoting their independence.

People who used service received care that was responsive to their needs and their daily routines were reflected in their care plan. Care plans included information about people’s interests and preferences and staff knew people’s needs well. People had individualised care plans which had sufficient information about people and how to support them.

The service had clear procedures for receiving, handling and responding to comments and complaints. Relatives told us they did not have any complaints about the service but knew what to do if they needed to raise a complaint or concern. They told us that the registered manager was approachable and they would not hesitate to raise concerns directly with her.

The registered manager held regular meetings with the care support staff. Care support staff told us they received up to date information and had an opportunity to share good practice and any concerns they had at these meetings. They spoke positively about communication within the service.

Systems were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service. We found the service had obtained feedback about the quality of the service through a satisfaction survey. The service also undertook checks and audits of the quality of the service.

Rating at last inspection: Unrated. The report was published on 26 May 2017. We were previously unable to rate the service as the service was only providing care to one person and therefore there was insufficient evidence for us to rate the service.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled planned comprehensive inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk