Home Instead Senior Care

Updated 27 September 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.

Inspection site visit activity started on 7 August 2018 and ended on 8 August 2018. It included visits to two people in their own homes. We visited the office location on 7 and 8 August 2018 to see the registered manager, and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location is a domiciliary care agency and we needed to be sure that someone would be at the office. The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). The PIR is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed other information we held about the service. This included notifications of incidents that the registered persons had sent us. These are events that happened in the service that the registered persons are required to tell us about.

We spoke with the provider, the registered manager, the training and recruitment manager, and the care co-ordinator of the service. We spoke with three care givers. We looked at six people's care plans and the associated risk assessments and guidance. We looked at a range of other records including four staff recruitment files, the staff induction records, training and supervision schedules, staff rotas and quality assurance documentation and audits. Following the inspection we spoke with two relatives.

The service had been registered with us since 6 August 2017. This was the first inspection carried out on the service to check that it was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.

Updated 27 September 2018

This inspection was completed on 7 and 8 August 2018 and was announced.

Home Instead Senior Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to a range of people including older adults. Not everyone using Home Instead Senior Care receives a regulated activity; 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. At the time of our inspection there were 14 people using the service.

People were kept safe from potential harm and abuse, by a staff team who had received training in safeguarding. Risks had been assessed and minimised where possible, with people being supported to take positive risks. There were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs. Staff had been recruited safely. People received their medicines when required and by competent staff. The risk of infection was reduced by staff who had been trained in infection control, and used personal protective equipment. There were systems in place to learn and improve when things went wrong.

Before a service was provided, an assessment of people’s needs was completed. Staff received the training and support to provide effective care. Staff worked in partnership with healthcare providers to provide consistent support when people moved between services. People had access to healthcare professionals and were supported to maintain good health. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported people in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The principles of the Mental Capacity Act were being complied with and any restrictions were assessed to ensure they were lawful, and the least restrictive option.

People were treated with kindness and compassion by a staff team that knew them well. People received emotional support when they needed. People, and where appropriate, their relatives were consulted around their care and support and their views were acted upon. People’s privacy and dignity were respected, and staff promoted people’s independence.

People received personalised care responsive to their needs. People’s care plans were written with them, and people told us they reflected their needs. There was a complaints policy and form, available to people. Complaints had been utilised to improve the service.

There was a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

There was an open and inclusive culture within the service which was shared by people, staff and managers. There was a robust governance system in place helping to provide a high quality service. People, their families and staff were engaged and involved in the running to the service. Systems were in place to ensure the service learnt and improved when things went wrong. The registered manager and provider had formed strong relationships with healthcare professionals and local health providers.