Background to this inspection
Updated
22 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
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 9 October and ended on 11 October 2019. We visited the office location on 10 October 2019.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection-
We spoke with five people and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five staff, the director and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two 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.
Updated
22 November 2019
About the service
Ash Tree Homecare is a domiciliary agency providing care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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 25 people were receiving personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People told us they felt safe using the service. They were protected from abuse, discrimination and avoidable harm by staff who understood their responsibilities to help people stay safe. Risks to people were assessed, monitored and reviewed and measures were taken to reduce risks to people’s health and well-being. People were supported by staff who had been recruited safely. People told us staff arrived on time and stayed the right length of time.
People’s feedback about the service was positive. They felt staff knew them well and understood how they preferred to be supported. 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. There were effective systems to refer people to health care professionals when needed. Staff identified when people’s health was deteriorating and acted quickly to make sure they received the support they needed.
People were treated with kindness and compassion. People’s feedback demonstrated they had built strong, trusting relationships with staff. They were consistently positive about the caring nature of staff. People felt they staff were knowledgeable and said they were treated respectfully, and their privacy and dignity were maintained.
People and their loved ones were involved in the planning, managing and reviewing of their care and support. People felt confident to raise any concerns with staff and said they had no complaints.
People, staff and health care professionals felt the service was well-led. The registered manager welcomed feedback to enable them to continue to drive improvements. There were effective checks and audits. When shortfalls were identified, action was taken to reduce the risk of it happening again.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (report published 23 October 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 provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
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.