Archived: The Homecare Partnership

Updated 3 November 2015

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 is 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 over two days on 1 and 2 July 2015 and was announced. We told the provider two days before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because the manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that they would be available. The inspection was undertaken by one inspector. A bank inspector conducted interviews with staff and three experts by experience contacted people and their relatives. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Their area of expertise was older people and dementia care.

Before the inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service, including the Provider Information Return (PIR) which the provider completed before the inspection. The PIR 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 also reviewed information we received since the last inspection including a notification of an incident that the provider had sent us and a contract monitoring report from the local authority.

At the last inspection on 10 October 2013 we found the service met the regulations we inspected.

During our inspection we visited the provider’s head office and spoke with two managers, including the registered manager, reviewed the care records of 10 people who used the service, reviewed the records for five staff and records relating to the management of the service. After the inspection visit we undertook phone calls to care workers, people who used the service and relatives of people who used the service. We contacted 38 people who used the service and manage to speak with 24 and contacted 26 relatives and spoke with 17.

We also spoke with one healthcare professional. The registered manager sent us further documents on request after the inspection visit.

Updated 3 November 2015

We carried out an announced inspection on the 1 and 2 July 2015. The Homecare Partnership provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 230 people were receiving a personal care service.

At our last inspection on 10 October 2013 we found the service was meeting the regulations inspected.

The Homecare Partnership Limited is a homecare agency registered to provide personal care in people’s homes and in supported living schemes. People who used the service include those with dementia, and people with learning or physical disabilities, mental health conditions and sensory impairment.

The service has a registered manager who has been with the service since it opened. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We saw that the registered manager was accessible and approachable to staff during our visit to the office. People who used the service and relatives felt able to speak with the manager and provided feedback on the service. We noted that the service undertook spot checks which involved obtaining feedback from people on the quality of the service. .

People were kept safe and free from harm. There were appropriate numbers of staff employed to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service. Staff were able to accommodate last minute changes to appointments as requested by the person who used the service or their relatives.

Staff received regular training and were knowledgeable about their roles and responsibilities. People told us that they felt the staff had the skills and knowledge required to support them.

Staff knew the people they were supporting and provided a personalised service. Task plans were in place demonstrating the support to be provided to people. People and relatives were involved in their care. People told us they liked the staff and they were always treated with dignity and respect.

People were supported to eat and drink. Staff supported people to attend healthcare appointments and liaised with their GP and other healthcare professionals as required to meet people’s needs.

There were systems in place to monitoring the quality of the service. People were asked their views about the service and most people and relatives told us that they were involved in decisions about people’s care.