Folkestone Home Care

Updated 7 November 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. 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, an assistant inspector and an Expert by Experience who made telephone calls. 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

Folkestone Home Care is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Inspection activity started on 12 September 2019 and ended on 17 September 2019. We visited the registered office on 17 September 2019.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission who was also the nominated individual. This means that they 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 five days’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed to gain people’s consent to being contacted for their feedback.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the agency registered with the CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the agency. We used the information the registered manager 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. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the visiting GP and a visiting nurse during our inspection. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered manager, the ‘staff liaison advisor’ and two care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care plans, risk assessments, daily care records and medicines records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff support and supervision. We also saw a variety of records relating to the management of the agency, including a sample of audits, quality assurance surveys, accidents and policies and procedures.

Updated 7 November 2019

About the service

Folkestone Home Care is a domiciliary care service registered to provide personal care for older people, people who live with dementia, people who have learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder and people who misuse drugs and alcohol. At the time of our inspection 11 people were receiving personal care.

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

People and their relatives were extremely complimentary about the staff, registered manager and the service they received. One person said, “The staff will help with anything and everything. They are outstanding at their jobs, above and beyond.” A relative said, “I never have to worry, she [registered manager] goes completely above and beyond and I know I can call her any time of the day or night if I am concerned. Outstanding set up all round.”

People received an individualised service with them at the centre. People received care they had chosen and took the lead role in the development of their care plan. Care plans were regularly reviewed and updated to ensure people continued to receive the care they wanted and needed.

Potential risks posed to people had been assessed with action taken to reduce the risk. People’s safety within their home had been recorded, and referrals were made to the appropriate healthcare professionals to promote people’s safety.

Staff knew people well and understood their specific health conditions and how they affected them. People’s likes, dislikes and personal histories were recorded within their care plan. People’s privacy and dignity was protected whilst encouraging people to be as independent as they were able to.

People received care from the same staff team providing people with consistency and continuity of care. Safe recruitment practices were followed to reduce the risk of unsafe staff working with people. Staff received continuous support, supervision and guidance from the registered manager.

Staff enjoyed their role and felt proud to work for the organisation. Staff’s opinions and suggestions were listened to and acted on. Staff had been trained to meet people’s needs including their specialist needs.

Staff worked alongside healthcare professionals to ensure people remained as healthy as possible. People were supported to maintain their nutrition and hydration. Any identified concerns were acted on quickly with appropriate referrals to healthcare professionals.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People’s, staff’s and relatives’ views and feedback were sought and acted on. There was an ethos of continuous improvement were any concerns were acted on to improve the service. Quality assurance questionnaires were sent out to gather further feedback alongside regular reviews.

The registered manager worked as part of the care team to role model and observe best practice. There were a range of checks and audits in place to promote a high-quality service and continuously improve.

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

Rating at last inspection

The service was registered with us on 20 September 2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the timescale for unrated services.

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.