Acacia Homecare Limited

Updated 18 September 2018

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 was a comprehensive inspection and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed the manager to arrange visits for us to people’s homes with their permission. We also needed to be sure that the manager would be in the office.

The inspection site visit activity started on 23 August 2018 and lasted one day. It included visiting two people living in their homes. We also visited the office location on the same date to see the manager, the provider and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

The inspection was also informed by feedback from questionnaires completed by a number of people using services and staff working at the service.

Before the inspection we reviewed records held by CQC which included notifications, complaints and any safeguarding concerns. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. This enabled us to ensure we were addressing potential areas of concern at the inspection.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

In addition to visiting two people in their homes we also had telephone calls with 10 other people. At the office we spoke with the manager and three members of staff. We read care plans for two people, medicines records and the records of accidents and incidents, complaints and safeguarding.

After the inspection we were sent records of audits, surveys, staff training and supervision. We looked at a selection of policies and procedures and health and safety audits. We also looked at minutes of staff meetings and evidence of partnership working with external organisations.

Updated 18 September 2018

Acacia Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone using Acacia Homecare Limited receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being 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 service provides day care and live in care. At the time of our inspection the service provided a regulated activity to 31 people.

Rating at last inspection

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Why the service is rated good

People were encouraged and supported to live as independently as they could. Risk to people`s health, safety and wellbeing were identified and actions were put in place to manage and mitigate the risks to keep people safe.

People received care that met their needs and staff knew them well. People were involved in planning their care and the manager and staff valued their views. Staff were trained and supervised appropriately to ensure that they provided effective care.

People told us they felt they were treated in a caring way and with kindness. People’s privacy and dignity was respected by staff. People had positive relationships with staff.

Staff were aware that they had to obtain peoples consent before assisting them. This was recorded in people’s care and support plans.

The provider had a policy and process for dealing with complaints and concerns. Audits were in place and the manager checked the quality of the service by requesting feedback through surveys and questionnaires which people were asked to complete periodically.

The provider and management team had values and a clear vision that was person centred and focussed on enabling people to live at home. All staff demonstrated a commitment to providing a service for people that met their individual needs.

Further information is in the detailed findings below