Archived: Housing & Care 21 - Preston

Updated 16 December 2016

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 was 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.

This inspection took place on the 2, 3, 4 November 2016, at the agency office and was completed by contacting people using the service and staff via telephone interviews on 3,4,7,8 November 2016. The inspection was carried out by three adult social care inspectors.

Before the inspection, we contacted the local authority contracting unit and safeguarding team for feedback. We also checked the information we held about the provider including statutory notifications sent to us by the registered manager about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.

The provider sent us a 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 used this information as evidence for the inspection.

During the inspection we visited four people in their own homes and spoke with an additional 17 people using the services or their family members. We spoke with 12 members of staff, two deputy managers and the registered manager. The registered manager was present over the three days we spent in the agency offices.

We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and how the service was managed. These included 17 people’s support plans and all associated documentation, 10 people’s medicine administration records, staff training records, 12 staff recruitment files, staff supervision and appraisal records, quality assurance audits, a sample of policies and procedures, incident reports and other records relating to the management of the service.

Updated 16 December 2016

We carried out an inspection of Housing and Care 21 (Preston) on the 2, 3, 4, November 2016, at the agency office. The inspection was completed by contacting people using the service and staff via telephone interviews on 3,4,7,8 November 2016. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of our intention to carry out the inspection. This is because the location is a community based service and we needed to be sure that someone would be present in the office.

Housing and Care 21 Preston, provides short and long term domiciliary support to people with a wide range of needs. Services include home care, crisis support, rehabilitation, reablement and extra care housing. The service currently operates mainly in the areas of South Ribble, Chorley and Preston.

At the last inspection on the 24 February 2014. The service was found to be meeting the regulations applicable at that time.

The service was managed by a registered manager. 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.

People informed they felt safe and well looked after and where satisfied with the care they received from Housing and Care 21. People felt the staff were trustworthy and valued their support and advice with day to day living. We established that the provider had adequate policies in place and ensured appropriate recruitment procedures were carried out prior to staff starting work. We were able to establish that the service had appropriate levels of staff and the service had a rolling staff recruitment process.

Processes were in place to provide staff with the appropriate amount of training and the provider had safeguards in place which prevented staff from working should their training expire. New staff were required to complete a thorough induction and shadowing experience prior to starting work and following a period of shadowing and direct observations done by senior staff where then signed off as competent to work.

Appropriate processes were in place for the safe administration of medicines in line with best practice guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Staff had received training in medicines management

The registered manager understood the principles associated with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and acted according to this legislation. People had access to a GP and other health care professionals when they needed them and reported that staff were responsive to their needs if they felt unwell.

People told us that staff supported them in a respectful and dignified manner and that their privacy was respected. People and their families were involved in the care planning process and also were part of any reviews which took place where appropriate. Support plans reflected the person’s need for support, however, some care plans we saw used generalised terms. We were assured by the registered manager that these would be looked at and amended with more detail. Similarly we saw in two care files a lack of risk assessment to identify and provide guidance to staff on possible areas of risk. The registered manager assured she would audit these files and ensure the correct documentation was added.

People were aware of how they could raise a complaint or concern if they needed and felt confident that any concerns would be dealt with appropriately.

There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service which included seeking feedback from people and regular audits. Any areas of improvement were identified and actioned appropriately.