Home Care For You Blackburn

Updated 7 January 2020

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 and an Expert by Experience. 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). 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

This inspection was announced.

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 5 December and ended on 6 December 2019. We visited the office location on 5 December 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We looked at the information we held about the service. This information included statutory notifications the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

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. We also contacted local commissioners and asked them for their views about the service. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We visited the registered office and spoke with the registered manager, the quality manager, a training manager, a care coordinator and the management consultant. We also spoke with five people who used the service, one relative and four care staff on the telephone about their experience of the service.

We looked at the care plans and associated records for four people who used the service. We reviewed records relating to how the service was managed; these included staff training and recruitment records, seven medication records, induction and supervision records, quality assurance systems and policies and procedures and responses from the recent customer satisfaction survey. We also looked at the outcome from the recent commissioner’s report (September 2019).

After the inspection

We reviewed information sent to us by the registered manager in relation to training and visit attendance.

Updated 7 January 2020

About the service

Homecare For You Blackburn is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of the inspection there were 114 people using the service.

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.

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

People told us they were happy with the service they received and felt safe. They said staff were kind and friendly. Safeguarding adults’ procedures were in place and staff understood how to protect people from abuse. Recruitment processes ensured new staff were suitable to work for the agency. There were enough numbers of staff deployed to meet people's needs in a punctual, consistent and flexible way and to ensure their safety. People received their medicines when they needed them from staff who had been trained and had their competency checked. Risk assessments were carried out to enable people to retain their independence and receive support with minimum risk to themselves or others.

People were given 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’s care and support needs were assessed prior to them using the service to ensure their needs could be met. Improved arrangements were in place to ensure staff received ongoing training, supervision and support. People were supported at mealtimes in line with their support plan and staff worked in partnership with healthcare professionals, when needed.

Management and staff had developed friendly, caring and respectful relationships with people using the service and their families. Staff knew about people’s backgrounds and about their routines and preferences; this made sure people’s care was tailored to their specific needs. People, or their family members, had been consulted about their care needs and had been involved in the support planning process. People had access to activities if this was in line with their support plan. People were aware of how they could raise any complaints, concerns and compliments and had access to a complaint’s procedure.

Improvements had been made to the way the quality of the service was monitored. Any noted shortfalls were addressed. The values of the service were known to staff. Staff told us they received support from management and they felt valued. People’s views and opinions of the service were sought and acted on. People told us the service was well-managed.

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 (published 13 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 provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Enforcement

Since the last inspection, we recognised that the provider had failed to display their ratings. This was a breach of regulation and we issued a fixed penalty notice. The provider accepted a fixed penalty and paid this in full. During this inspection we found the web site reflected the current 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.