We carried out a review of the data available to us about Trust Home Care Ltd on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Trust Home Care Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Trust Home Care Ltd is a domiciliary care agency, providing personal care to older adults and people with physical disabilities and complex health needs. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 73 people. 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
People were pleased with the quality of care and support they experienced. They told us they felt safe when support workers were providing support to them. Staff understood what it meant to protect people from abuse. They told us they were confident any concerns they raised would be taken seriously by the registered manager.
Safe procedures were in place to make sure people received their medicines as prescribed. There were enough staff available to ensure people’s care and support needs were met. The same support workers supported people most of the time. The provider recognized this was important to people. The provider had effective recruitment procedures in place to make sure staff had the required skills and were of suitable character and background. Staff received training which supported them to have the knowledge and skills to do their job well and effectively meet people’s needs.
Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. 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.
People were supported to access relevant health and social care professionals to ensure they were getting the care and support they needed to best meet their needs. Positive and supportive relationships had been developed between people and staff. People were treated with dignity and respect. Staff were committed to promoting people’s independence. Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink and to access healthcare services when they needed.
People’s care and support was planned and delivered in a way that ensured it met their needs and reflected their preferences. The care records we looked at included risk assessments. They had been devised to help minimise and monitor the risks, while promoting the person’s independence as far as possible.
People knew how to complain and were confident the registered manager or other staff would resolve their complaint. People who used the service, relatives and staff could express their views about the service which were acted upon. The management team provided leadership that gained the respect of staff and motivated them as a team.
There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and make improvements when needed.
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 requires improvement (published 27 December 2018). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the overall rating had improved to good.
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for ‘Longfields Court’ on our website at www.cqc.org.uk’.
Since that inspection we received information that indicated the service may not be operating as expected. As a result, we brought our next planned inspection forward, so we could consider the concerns.
Longfields Court is a domiciliary care agency which provides care services, including personal care, to people with a range of disabilities who are living in their own houses and flats in the community. People who used the service and staff knew the service as Trust Home Care rather than Longfields Court, therefore the service is referred to by this name throughout this report. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting approximately 80 people who needed assistance with their personal care, such as their personal hygiene and taking medication.
The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
Recruitment processes helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing staff. However, we found the provider’s recruitment policy had not always been entirely followed.
Medication was managed safely. However, more information was required about medicines that were only given as and when the person required them.
People we spoke with were very happy with the quality of the care the service provided and how it was run. They said care workers met their needs and delivered their care as they preferred. People told us their privacy and dignity was respected, and staff were kind, compassionate, respectful and polite.
People had been involved in assessing and planning their care. Care plans provided clear, comprehensive information and guidance to staff, which assisted them to deliver care that was specifically tailored to people’s individual needs and preferences. However, one care plan we checked had not been updated in a timely manner.
Systems in place continued to reduce the risk of abuse and to assess and monitor potential risks to individual people.
Staff had received a structured induction, essential training and regular support, to help develop their knowledge and skills, so they could effectively meet people’s needs.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Records showed people had consented to their planned care and staff understood the importance of gaining people’s consent and acting in their best interest.
Where needed people were supported to maintain a balanced diet, and their dietary needs and choices were met.
People knew how to raise complaints and concerns. People told us they would feel comfortable raising concerns, if they had any, but said this had not been necessary.
People spoke positively about the management team. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided and highlight areas for improvement. However, these had only recently been introduced, so needed to be embedded into practice. The registered manager listened to and learnt from the feedback of others, which helped to make changes to improve the service.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.
The registered provider was also the registered manager and they were actively involved in the day to day running of the service. 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 registered manager and the staff we spoke with were aware of the responsibility in keeping people safe. They knew about the different types of abuse and how to report this to their manager, or to the appropriate external organisation.
Care plans contained environment risk assessments as well as risk assessments specific to people’s individual care and support needs. Staff received training in the management of people’s medicines and care plans recorded sufficient detail to reduce the risk of staff not administering people’s medicines safely.
Safe recruitment practices were followed. Staff turned up on time and did not miss calls.
New staff completed a programme of induction and there was a system in place to ensure staff received regular training and on-going supervision. This included field based checks on their performance.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
People received support to enable them to eat and drink.
Everyone we spoke with told us staff were caring and kind. Staff treated them with respect and took steps to maintain their privacy. Staff were able to tell us about the actions they took to maintain people’s dignity and ensure people’s private information was kept confidential.
People had a care plan in place which was person centred and provided sufficient detail to enable staff to provide the care and support required by each individual. Staff made a record of the care they provided and these records were returned to the office in a timely manner.
No formal complaints had been received by the registered manager but people we spoke with told us they were aware of how to raise a complaint if the need arose.
Each person we spoke with told us the service was well led. There were regular staff meetings held and formal feedback was gained from people who used the service through questionnaires. There were systems in place to audit care plans and related documentation although where a concern had been identified, the action taken was not recorded. We have made a recommendation about audits.