Archived: J S Parker - Northern House

Updated 18 July 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:

The inspection was carried out by an inspector from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Service and service type:

The service provides domiciliary care to people in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with 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:

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit. This was because the service is community based and we needed to ensure staff would be available to support the inspection.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about. We sought feedback from other external agencies such as local safeguarding and quality teams and no serious concerns were shared with us.

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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. This information helps support our inspections.

During the inspection:

We spoke with three people and one person’s relative who received a service from J S Parker Northern House. We spoke with the registered manager, regional quality and training manager, two case managers and two support workers.

We reviewed two care plans and associated `documentation and five staff files in relation to recruitment and supervision records. Multiple records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider were reviewed during and after the inspection.

Updated 18 July 2019

About the service: J S Parker Northern House provides a case management service to adults with an acquired brain injury and are living in their own homes. This includes developing care and support packages and liaising with healthcare and other professionals on the person’s behalf.

The service is registered with the Care Quality Commission for the regulated activity of ‘personal care’. At the time of this inspection, a total of 108 people used the service. However, only 33 people were in receipt of support that included personal care.

People’s experience of using this service: We found a strong leadership framework in place. This meant there were clear lines of accountability within the organisation and systems which supported the running of the service were well-embedded. The service benefited from a long-standing and highly experienced registered manager. They were well supported by a dedicated and enthusiastic multidisciplinary team.

People’s care files showed that their care needs had been thoroughly assessed, and they received a good quality of care from staff who understood the type of support they needed. Care plans were highly personalised and gave clear information on how to support people beyond just their physical needs to ensure their entire person-hood was upheld. People’s goals and aspirations were clearly identified in their care records and we saw many examples where the service had helped them to fulfil these.

Staff were effective in their roles and sought the best outcomes for the people they supported. The service benefited from a range of in-house professional expertise which meant a responsive level of training and continuous development was provided in line with the person’s needs and developments in best practice.

People were given every opportunity to be valued and equal partners in decisions around their care and support. For example, people or their representatives were empowered to select the own staff team and ask questions during staff interviews. The service encouraged people to maintain a healthy diet and worked collaboratively with external services to promote people's wellbeing. 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.

Rating at last inspection: At the last inspection the service was rated ‘Good.’ (published 22 November 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned routine inspection based on the 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.

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