Background to this inspection
Updated
21 September 2021
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 who visited Barnfield Home Care offices on the 31 August 2021. Off site, one expert by experience undertook telephone calls to people and relatives who consented to us calling them. These calls were completed on 27 August 2021 and staff telephone calls were completed 02 September 2021.
Service and service type
Barnfield Home Care provides a domiciliary care service to people in their own homes. CQC regulates the personal care provided.
The service had a registered manager. This means the registered manager 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 short notice of the inspection because of the risks associated with COVID-19. This meant that we could discuss how to ensure everyone remained safe during the inspection.
What we did before inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. We used any information the provider had sent us from their annual Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed the information we held, such as people and relatives’ experiences and statutory notifications. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with eight people who received a service and five relatives of those who were supported by the agency to get their experiences about the quality of service. We spoke with three members of care staff. We also spoke with one care supervisor, one care co-ordinator, an IT Learning and development co-ordinator, the registered manager and one of the owners.
We reviewed a range of records. This included examples of three people's care records and examples of medication records. We also looked at two staff recruitment files and records that related to the management and quality assurance of the service, especially around managing risk, medicines management, complaints, compliments and systems to manage care call timings.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
21 September 2021
About the service
Barnfield Home Care is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes, including older people who have a physical disability or people living with dementia. This provider purchased the business from the previous owners and registered with us as a new provider on 27 July 2020.
At the time of our visit the agency supported 42 people who received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do provide personal care, staff also consider any wider social care provided. Care calls ranged from 30-minutes to eight-hour duration at the time of this inspection.
People's experience of using this service and what we found
Improvements to the provider’s audit and checking processes were needed so they had clear evidence to show, what aspects of the service they had checked, what needed improving and what those improvement plans were. The provider told us since purchasing the business, their focus for the last 12 months was on making those positive changes. They told us regular checks were made but transitioning from old to new systems meant clear recording systems were not yet embedded. It was evident the changes already made, showed the provider was committed to driving up standards.
People and relatives were complimentary about the service they or their relative received. People and relatives said improvements had been made since our last inspection when we inspected under different business ownership. Relatives in particular told us, management, communication and feeling involved in their family members care was much better.
People were cared for by staff who were safely recruited. Staff and the provider knew how to keep people safe and protected from abusive practice. Systems to learn lessons when things went wrong helped to drive improvements and the registered manager notified us and the relevant body at the right times.
People said staff were kind, caring, gentle and always willing to do what was needed and expected of them. People were cared for by staff who attended training relevant to their roles. Assessments were completed before care was provided. This helped to ensure staff had the relevant skills and knowledge to meet a person’s needs.
Staff followed infection control procedures in line with national guidance for reducing the spread of COVID-19.
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.
Staff’s knowledge of how to support people was consistent with people’s care needs, however changes were not always recorded swiftly in people's care plans. Risks related to people’s care were recorded and reviewed, but these were not always detailed and updated. There were instructions for staff to follow to manage those identified risks, however for some risks, such as risks related to specialist equipment, these needed to be more specific. The registered manager assured us this would be addressed.
People feedback from our telephone calls showed regular checks on their satisfaction were made any improvements or changes were swiftly made.
People and staff were complimentary of the management team. People and relatives said the management team was approachable and responsive.
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
This service was registered with us on 17 July 2020 and this is the first inspection under the new provider.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the date the service was first registered with the CQC.
Follow up
We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.