Archived: Abicare Services Limited - Dorset

Updated 20 April 2017

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.

The inspection took place on 17 March 2017, which included visiting four people who used the service in their own homes. On 21 March 2017, we made additional phone calls to people and their relatives who use the service so they could provide their views on the service they received and prior to our inspection a further selection of people had been asked to complete a quality assurance questionnaire. This ensured views from a wide range of people who used the service could be obtained. We told the service two days before our visit that we would be coming to ensure the people we needed to talk to would be available. This inspection was conducted by two Care Quality Commission inspectors.

Before the inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the service; this included information we had received from third parties. Prior to the inspection, the provider completed 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 also asked the local authority safeguarding and commissioning teams for their views on the care and service provided by Abicare Services Limited-Dorset.

We spoke with seven people on the telephone and visited four people and their relatives in their homes. We also spoke with eight members of staff which included care staff, the quality assurance officer, the training manager, the community field office and the manager. We checked five people’s care and medicine records in the office and with their permission, the records of four of these people that were kept in their home.

We also saw records about how the service was managed. These included four staff recruitment and monitoring records, staff rotas, staff visit schedules, training records, staff meeting minutes, audits and quality assurance records as well as a range of the provider’s policies and procedures.

Updated 20 April 2017

The inspection took place on 17 March 2017, with telephone calls to people and their relatives who use the service on 21 March 2017. We told the service two days before our visit that we would be coming to ensure the people we needed to talk to would be available.

At our last inspection in December 2015 we found the service was not meeting the requirements of the regulations and highlighted six breaches of the regulations. The following breaches of the regulations were highlighted; people were not protected against the risks associated with the unsafe management and use of medicines, risks to people’s health and safety whilst receiving care had not been assessed, checks had not been consistently carried out to ensure that staff were suitable to work with vulnerable people, care workers were not supported with regular training, supervision and appraisal and effective systems and processes had not been established to assess and monitor the quality and safety of the service provided and accurate records were not maintained. Following our inspection the provider wrote to us to tell us what improvements they would implement to ensure they would become compliant with the regulations. At this inspection the provider was compliant with the regulations.

Abicare Services Limited - Dorset, provides personal care and support to people who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection they were providing personal care and support to 52 people.

The service is required by law to have a registered manager, and there was a registered manager in post. 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.

Generally people were content and happy with the service they received. People were provided with support and care by a team of staff who knew them and understood their care and support needs well.

People felt safe with the care staff and staff knew the correct procedures on how to respond and report potential abuse.

Staff received training, which was refreshed at regular intervals, to ensure they had the skills and knowledge they required to be able to provide care safely. There was an on-going programme of staff supervision meetings and appraisals to ensure staff performance was monitored regularly. Staff were provided with support and guidance to carry out their role effectively.

Care plans and people’s support records were clearly written, reviewed and kept up to date when changes occurred.

There were safe systems in place to administer and manage people’s medicines.

There was a robust recruitment system in place to ensure people were cared for by staff who had been recruited safely. There were sufficient staff employed with the right skills and knowledge to meet people’s needs.

People’s rights were protected because staff and management had a working knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Environmental risk assessments were completed on people’s homes to ensure any risks to staff and people were minimised.

Quality assurance systems were in place to monitor and where necessary improve the quality of service being delivered.