Bloomsbury Home Care - Lincolnshire

Updated 16 May 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

This 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:

Bloomsbury Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the agency was providing personal care to 106 people.

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 visit because the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

Prior to the inspection we reviewed information we had received about the service, this included details about incidents the provider must notify us about. We sought feedback from the local authority, the local safeguarding authority and other professionals who work with the service. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection we spoke with 25 people and their relatives, five care staff, the registered manager and the regional manager. We reviewed records related to the care of six people. We looked at records of accidents and incidents, audits and quality assurance reports, complaints, and six staff files.

Updated 16 May 2019

About the service:

Bloomsbury Homecare Limited is registered as a domiciliary care agency providing the regulated activity ‘personal care’ to people who live in their own homes in Bourne, Stamford, Spalding and Grantham. At the time of the inspection visit there were 106 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service:

• Systems were in place to ensure the safety of people being cared for.

• Risks were assessed and appropriately managed.

• Medicines were administered safely and in line with policies and procedures.

• Safeguarding issues and complaints were reflected upon and improvements were made.

• People’s needs were assessed and outcomes were met.

• Staff received the mandatory training they needed to meet people’s basic needs. Some improvements needed to be made to ensure that staff were provided with more detailed knowledge relating to specific conditions such as dementia.

• People’s consent to care was sought.

• The care staff and the managers reflected the values of the organisation.

• People were given the opportunity to express their views regularly and were involved in the planning of their care.

• Care staff demonstrated a good awareness of how to maintain people’s privacy and dignity.

• People were receiving care that was responsive to their needs. Some improvements needed to be made to ensure that people were routinely called when their care call was likely to be delayed.

• People were consulted about the care they received and were asked for regular feedback. Some improvements needed to be made so people could find out about what was being done in relation to their concerns.

• Care plans were being developed to include more person-centred information.

• Care was delivered by staff who understood the needs of the people they were supporting.

• People knew how to complain and raise concerns and were listened to and responded to.

• Leadership of the service was strong. Care staff were very complimentary of the support they received from the registered manager. Morale in the team was good and there was a good team working ethos.

• Processes were in place to ensure that the delivery of care was monitored and checked regularly. Plans for improvement were implemented and actioned.

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated Requires Improvement and was published on 7 April 2017.

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.