Safe Harbour Home Care (Petersfield)

Updated 15 November 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector and contact with people and their relatives was completed by an Expert by Experience to gather people’s feedback. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing.

The service 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

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 08 October 2019 with calls to people and their relatives and ended on 17 October 2019. We visited the office location on 10 and 15 October 2019.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We completed calls to people and their relatives to gain feedback on their experience of care provided by Safe Harbour Home Care (Petersfield). We spoke with ten people and five relatives. We spoke with the registered manager and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We also spoke with nine members of staff including two care co-ordinators, a senior carer and care staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We received feedback from the local authority and two social care professionals who had regular contact with the service.

Updated 15 November 2019

About the service

Safe Harbour Home Care (Petersfield) is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people living in their own homes who have a range of needs including older people, people with a physical disability, learning disability, mental health needs and people living with dementia. 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. At the time of the inspection 69 people were receiving personal care.

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

We have recommended that the provider reviews current best practice guidance around medicines care planning. People told us they were supported by staff who knew them and their needs well. Staff had access to a range of training and told us they felt supported in their role. 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. People told us the service was reliable and that they received timely care calls with consistent staff.

People received a service that was safe. There were systems and processes in place to ensure people were protected from the risks of avoidable harm. People were protected from the risk of experiencing abuse. Staff completed regular training and understood their responsibilities. People were supported to manage their medicines safely by staff who were appropriately trained.

There was a strong person-centred culture. People and their relatives consistently praised staffs’ efforts and told us they had positive relationships with staff and received good-quality care. People were encouraged to maintain and build on their independent living skills, and staff understood the importance of enabling people to have choice and control.

People’s care plans were person-centred and reflected their preferences. People, relatives and social care professionals told us the service provided care and support that was responsive to individual needs. There was a clear complaints procedure in place, people told us they knew who to contact if they had any concerns. The registered manager acted following feedback to enhance how they recorded people’s end of life care planning wishes in more detail.

The service was well-led. We received consistently positive feedback from people, relatives and two social care professionals that service was run with positive leadership. The registered manager maintained oversight of service delivery and completed a range of audits to continually assess and monitor the care people received.

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 31 March 2017).

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.