Archived: Aroma Care Northampton

Updated 10 August 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors and two Experts by Experience. 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

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

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

Inspection activity started on 13 July 2022 and ended on14 July 2022. We visited the location’s office on 13 July 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 15 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided and eight relatives. We spoke with the registered manager who was also the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We had discussions with three staff on site that included the administrator, a senior carer and a care and support worker new to the service. We contacted 27 care and support staff via email for feedback and received responses from five staff members.

We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care records and numerous medication records. We looked at three staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality assurance documents, policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at four complete case files for people using the service, a further care plan and associated risk assessments, the staff training matrix and governance information.

Updated 10 August 2022

About the service

Aroma Care is a domiciliary care service. It is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. At the time of the inspection there were 115 people receiving personal care and support.

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

Quality monitoring checks lacked details about the areas of concern and there was no action plan in place to monitor planned improvements . . We continued to receive concerns from some people and relatives that communication was not always effective. Following our feedback to the registered manager they informed us they had a meeting with staff and put plans in place to improve communication with people.

Improvements had been made to accident and incident reporting so action could be taken to promote people’s safety. However, systems in place to learn lessons when things went wrong needed to be strengthened.

Improvements had been made to the systems and processes in place to seek people's views. We were unable to find a record of any actions taken as a result of people’s feedback. The provider had made improvements to how they responded to complaints. People we spoke with were happy with how their complaints or concerns had been dealt with.

Improvements had been made to the risk management systems to ensure staff worked safely with people and understood what risks may be present in their lives. We found the systems and processes for administering people’s medicines had been improved. Staff administered people’s medicines safely and quality checks of medicines were undertaken.

The provider had made improvements to their recruitment procedures to ensure people were protected from staff that may not be suitable to support them. Improvements had been made to the timings and consistency of people’s calls to ensure they received their care when they needed it from staff that knew them.

Infection control measures were robustly followed, and staff had access to sufficient PPE.

People received safe care and support from staff. Staff understood safeguarding procedures and were confident in reporting any concerns.

People were consulted about their care before the services were provided. Staff received appropriate training for their roles and people felt staff had good knowledge and skills. People’s care plans included all information needed to support people safely and in accordance with their wishes and preferences. Staff had received an induction into their role and the management team monitored this to ensure training remained up to date.

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 told us they were treated with kindness and compassion and their privacy was respected. They told us they were fully involved in the care planning and reviews of their care.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 26 January 2022) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Aroma Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.