Lima Homecare LTD

Updated 9 March 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:

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

Lima Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own homes. The service provides personal care and support to adults. There were 45 people using the service at the time of the inspection.

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 site visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure they would be in to support the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 29 January 2019 and ended on 26 February 2019.

What we did:

Before the inspection, we looked at information we held about the service including notifications. A notification is information about events that registered persons are required to tell us about. We checked the 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 also spoke to the local authority commissioning team to seek their views about the quality of the care provided by Lima Care. We used this information to plan the inspection.

We visited the office location on 29 January 2019 to see the registered manager and care staff; and to review records. At this visit, we spoke with the registered manager, the care manager and four care staff. We looked at care records for four people, three staff records and records related to the management of the service.

Between 30 January 2019 and 26 February 2019, we reviewed additional information sent to us by the provider and contacted eight people who use the service and their relatives by telephone to seek their views.

Updated 9 March 2019

About the service:

Lima Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to adults living in their own homes in the community. Not everyone using a domiciliary care agency receives 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.

People’s experience of using this service:

People and their relatives told us they felt the service they received from Lima Care was safe, and their experiences were positive.

People were protected from harm by staff who had been trained and were confident in recognising and reporting concerns. Potential risks to people were assessed and guidance was in place to minimise them.

There were enough staff to ensure people’s needs were met safely. They had been trained and had the right skills to meet people's needs effectively. They were well supported and had information to meet people’s assessed needs.

People were supported to manage their medicines because staff had been trained to do so safely. Staff had the right equipment and followed effective processes to prevent the spread of infection.

Where required, staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink. They supported people to access to healthcare professionals when required to help maintain their health and well-being.

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 supported this practice.

People and their relatives were fully involved in making decisions about their care and support and planning and reviewing care plans.

People told us staff who supported them were caring and friendly. Staff respected and promoted people’s privacy, dignity and independence.

Information in people's care plans supported staff to deliver person-centred care that met people’s needs. The registered manager worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure that people received care that met their needs.

There was a system to ensure people’s views were recorded, investigated, and acted upon to reduce the risk of recurrence of any concerns. Audits and quality monitoring checks were carried out regularly to continually improve the service.

Rating at last inspection:

This was the first rated inspection of this service.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor all information we receive about the service and schedule the next inspection accordingly.