Family Homecare Ltd

Family Homecare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 36 people receiving personal care from the service.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The registered manager did not have effective systems to support them to have full oversight of the service. We made a recommendation around improving governance systems.

Written risk assessments and care records were task focused and did not reflect the person-centred care people received. We made a recommendation around improving the quality of written care records.

Feedback from families and relatives was positive and people achieved good outcomes.

There were enough safely recruited staff to meet people’s needs. Senior and care staff were committed to ensuring people were protected from the risk of abuse. They supported people safely with their medicines and to minimise the risk of infection.

The registered manager enabled staff to develop their skills and provide good quality care. Staff were well organised and supervised. They supported people to eat and drink in line with their preferences. Staff worked well with people, families and professionals to promote people’s health and wellbeing.

People were supported by consistent staff who knew them well. Care was respectful and unrushed and staff supported people to remain independent.

Care was personalised around people’s needs and preferences. Staff reviewed and adapted support with people as their needs changed. Concerns were dealt with promptly.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 17 August 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

Family Home Care Limited is a domiciliary care service that provides care and support to people living their own homes. The service operates in Chelmsford and the surrounding towns and villages in Essex. At the time of our inspection there were approximately 51 people using the service.

There was a registered manager in post who was also the provider. 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 were safe because staff had the information needed to recognise abuse and keep people safe.

People received safe care that met their assessed needs and the provider had processes in place to manage risk.

There were sufficient staff who had been recruited safely and who had the correct skills to provide care and support in ways that people preferred.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) monitors the operation of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 and we found that the provider was following the MCA code of practice. The registered manager understood that they should ensure people had the capacity to consent to their care and support.

People were supported with their health needs. The registered manager supported staff to provide care that took people’s wishes into account and staff understood their responsibility to treat people as individuals.

People were treated with kindness and respect by staff who understood their needs.

The provider had systems in place to check the quality of the service and take the views of people into account to make improvements to the service. There were systems in place for people to raise concerns and there were opportunities available for people to give their feedback about the service.