Springfield Healthcare (Darlington)

Springfield Healthcare (Darlington) is a domiciliary care agency based in Darlington. It provides personal care and other additional support to people living in their own homes throughout the Darlington area. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults and children with a wide range of health and social care needs including physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health needs and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 188 people receiving a 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

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.

Risks to people's health, safety and well-being were effectively managed. Medicines were administered safely. The provider had effective infection prevention and control systems in place.

The provider had recruitment processes in place to ensure suitable staff were employed. People told us they felt safe when receiving support from staff. Staff understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. Staff had training on how to recognise and report abuse and they knew how to apply it.

People told us staff generally arrived on time and staff had the right skills to support them. People's needs were assessed prior to the commencement of the service. The assessment included people's health, physical, emotional and communication needs. Care provided was personalised and supported people’s preferences and wishes. Care plans had been reviewed regularly to ensure they were accurate.

People and staff spoke positively about the management of the service and their openness to feedback. The management team was approachable, maintained regular communication, and listened to the views of others.

Systems to monitor the quality and safety of the service were in place. The provider was open to improvement and listened and acted on feedback.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was rated good (published 30 May 2018).

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.

The inspection took place on 18, 19, April 2018 and was announced. This meant we gave the provider 24 hours’ notice of our intended visit to ensure someone would be available in the office to meet us. This was the first inspection of the service since the registration changed in December 2016.

This service is a domiciliary care agency based in Darlington. It provides personal care and other additional support to people living in their own homes throughout the Darlington area. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults and children with a wide range of health and social care needs including physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health needs and people living with dementia. At the time of our inspection there were 114 people receiving a service.

Not everyone using the service receives regulated activity; The Care Quality Commission (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 had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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 had extensive experience of working in the social care sector.

We found during this inspection that some notifications of significant events were not always submitted as required to the CQC from the registered manager regarding missed calls.

Medicines administration was safe this was regularly audited and staff competencies monitored by senior staff however we found that some recording was unclear in one person’s record we viewed. This was amended immediately by the registered manager.

People were supported to take risks safely and personalised risk assessments were in place to ensure people were protected against a range of risks.

Staff had received safeguarding training and were able to describe types of abuse and what they could do to report concerns and protect people.

Staff recruitment was carried out safely with robust safety checks in place for new staff.

New staff received induction training and were accompanied and supported by dedicated mentors called ‘care coaches’ to enhance their induction and extend if necessary.

People were supported to have choice and control over their own lives from being supported by person centred care approaches. Person centred care is when the person is central to their support and their preferences are respected.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs safely, with travel time included and supervision checks undertaken to ensure staff completed care visits as agreed.

Staff were trained in safeguarding, first aid, moving and handling, Mental Capacity Act, infection control and food hygiene. Additional training was in place or planned in areas specific to people’s individual needs.

Staff had a good knowledge of people’s likes, dislikes, preferences, mobility and communicative needs. People we spoke with gave us positive feedback regarding staff and how their needs were met.

People were supported to maintain their independence by staff that understood and valued the importance of this.

Care plans were sufficiently detailed and person-centred, giving members of staff and external professionals relevant information when providing care to people who used the service. Care plans were reviewed regularly and with the involvement of people who used the service and their relatives.

The registered manager displayed a sound understanding of capacity and the need for consent on a decision-specific basis. Consent was documented in people’s care files and people we spoke with confirmed staff asked for their consent on a day to day basis.

Health care professionals, including GP, dietitians or specialist consultants were Involved in people's care as and when this was needed and staff supported people with any appointments as necessary.

Staff, people who used the service, relatives and other professionals agreed that the registered manager led the service well and was approachable and accountable. We found they had a sound knowledge of the needs of people who used the service and clear expectations of staff. They had plans in place to make further improvements to service.

A programme of audits was carried out by the registered manager and these were effective.

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.

Infection control measures were in place for staff to protect people from the risk of infection through, training, cleanliness and protective clothing where required.

People and their relatives were able to complain if they wished and were knowledgeable of how to complain or raise minor concerns.

People who used the service and their representatives were regularly asked for their views about the support through questionnaires and feedback forms.

We made a recommendation, in relation to notifying us (CQC) of missed calls.