Archived: Concept Care Solutions Northampton

Updated 17 August 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 an announced comprehensive inspection that took place on 26 and 27 July 2018 and was carried out by one inspector. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in the office to assist us with our inspection. On the first day of our inspection we visited the main office to exam records and to talk with the manager and staff. On the second day we made phone calls to people using the service and relatives.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the previous report, information we held about the service and notifications we had been sent. Notifications are changes, events or incidents that providers must tell us about. This was used to inform our inspection judgements.

During the inspection visit we spoke with three people who used the service and four relatives. In addition, we also had discussions with the registered manager, the care co-ordinator and five care and support staff.

We looked at the care records of five people who used the service. We also looked at other information relation to the management of the service. This included five staff recruitment records, training records, information about the service such as policies, procedures and arrangements for managing complaints care and how the quality of service was monitored.

Updated 17 August 2018

This inspection took place on 26 and 27 July 2018 and was announced.

At the last comprehensive inspection on 08 June and 10 June 2016, the service was rated Good.

At this announced inspection on 26 and 27 July, found the service remained 'Good'.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. It provides a service to older adults.

Concept Care Solutions, Northampton provides a personal care service to people who live in their own homes in the community, including a live- in service for some people. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 44 people.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff had been provided with safeguarding training to enable them to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and how to report them. There were risk management plans in place to protect and promote people’s safety. Staffing numbers were appropriate to keep people safe and the registered provider followed thorough recruitment procedures to ensure staff employed were suitable for their role.

People’s medicines were managed safely and in line with best practice guidelines. Systems were in place to ensure that people were protected by the prevention and control of infection. There were arrangements in place for the service to make sure that action was taken and lessons learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service

People’s needs and choices were assessed and their care provided in line with best practice that met their diverse needs. Staff received an induction process when they first commenced work at the service and received on-going training to ensure they were able to provide care based on current practice when supporting people.

People received enough to eat and drink and staff gave support when required. People were supported to use and access a wide variety of other services and social care professionals. The staff had a good knowledge of other services available to people and we saw these had been involved with supporting people using the service. People were supported to access health appointments when required, including opticians and doctors, to make sure they received continuing healthcare to meet their needs.

People's consent was gained before any care was provided. 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 support this practice.

People continued to receive good care. They had developed positive relationship with the staff who understood their needs. Staff were kind, caring and treated people with dignity and respect.

People were listened to, their views were acknowledged and acted upon and care and support was delivered in the way that people chose and preferred. Records showed that people and their relatives were involved in the care planning process. There was a complaints procedure in place to enable people to raise complaints about the service.

The management and leadership within the service had a clear structure and the registered manager was knowledgeable about people's needs and key issues and challenges within the service. Staff felt supported and valued. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the care provided and to ensure the values; aims and objectives of the service were met. The registered manager was aware of their responsibility to report events that occurred within the service to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and external agencies.