Home Instead Wakefield

Updated 20 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 team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses.

At the time of inspection, the service did not have a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission in post as they had left the service in May 2019. However, we saw the provider was actively recruiting a new manager. Registered managers, like providers, 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. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 10 July 2019 and ended on 19 July 2019. We visited the office location on 16 July 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We used the information the provider 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service or their relatives about their experience of the care and support provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including the provider, the administrator and five support workers. At the office base we spent time looking at people’s care plans, we also reviewed staff records and various documents relating to the service’s quality assurance systems.

Updated 20 November 2019

About the service

Home Instead Senior Care Wakefield is a privately-owned domiciliary care agency, which is part of the national Home Instead franchise. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year. At the time of inspection, the agency was providing personal care support to eight people.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

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

There was a strong person-centred culture within the service and staff told us they felt valued by the provider. Staff had a clear understanding of people’s needs and had developed positive relationships with them and their families. People unanimously told us of how important the staff were to them and how much they enjoyed their relationships with them.

People were safe as staff were knowledgeable and aware of their individual needs. All staff could identify signs of possible abuse and neglect and knew how to report such concerns. Risk was managed on an individualised basis and risk assessments provided staff with clear guidance on how to manage potential risks to people’s health and safety.

Appropriate recruitment checks had taken place before staff started work and there were enough staff available for operational purposes and to meet people’s care and support needs. People’s medicines were managed safely, and the service had procedures in place to reduce the risk of infection.

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 were fully consulted and involved in planning their care. Care documentation was person centred and informative which assisted staff to care for people safely and ensured people developed and retain their independence. There was good evidence of working with other healthcare professionals to ensure people received appropriate care and support.

The provider provided the staff team with leadership and promoted a strong team culture. They maintained good oversight of the service through clear lines of communication and a detailed scheduled of audits and were passionate about continuing to improve the quality of the service.

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

Rating at last inspection

This was the first inspection of the service since registration on 23 July 2018.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our inspection programme.

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.