Archived: LHS Care and Support Ltd

Updated 24 April 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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 was carried out on 04 and 10 April 2018 was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the location provides a domiciliary care service and the registered manager may have been working away from the office providing care.

We obtained feedback from people on the 04 April 2018 and inspected the office location on the 10 April 2018.

Before our inspection we reviewed information we held about the service including statutory notifications that had been submitted. Statutory notifications include information about important events which the provider is required to send us. A Provider Information Return (PIR) was submitted on 01 August 2017. This is a document which contains information that the provider is required to send to us, which gives us some key information about the service and tells us what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. Prior to the inspection we sent a questionnaire to people who used the service, staff and health professionals. As part of this inspection we reviewed the responses received.

We reviewed care records and documents which related to people's health and well-being. These included care and support plans relating to two people, recruitment files for one staff member, and records relating to the management of the service.

We also spoke with two people and four people’s relatives. We received positive feedback from two health professionals. We spoke with one staff member and the registered manager.

Updated 24 April 2018

LHS Care and Support Ltd is a small domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes, or specialist housing. Not everyone using LHS Care and Support Ltd receives the regulated activity of personal care. CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care. At the time of this inspection the service supported seven people, however four of these received personal care.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

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The service has 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 told us they felt safe. Staff were knowledgeable about how to identify potential risks and understood their responsibilities in respect of safeguarding people. Risks to people’s health, safety and wellbeing had been assessed and measures were in place to mitigate and reduce these where possible. All care plans and risk assessments had been regularly reviewed to ensure that they captured any changes to people’s needs and were current.

Safe and robust recruitment processes were in place and had been followed to help ensure that staff were suitable for the role they were employed for. There were sufficient numbers of staff assigned to meet people's needs in a timely way. Where people’s medicines were managed by staff this was carried out in a safe manner.

Staff were well supported in their roles. Staff completed a comprehensive induction as well as on-going refresher training in a range of topics to support their work. Staff received individual supervision and development of their practice.

People’s consent was obtained prior to support being offered. Staff were aware of the need for decisions made on behalf of people to be in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Where people were unable to make their own decisions and had an appointee or Power of Attorney, the registered manager ensured consent was obtained in consultation with the person.

People were supported to access health and social care professionals to help maintain their health and wellbeing.

People were involved in planning how they wanted to be supported and how their care and support was provided. People had a detailed care plan which took account of their individual needs, preferences and choices.

People had developed positive relationships with the staff who supported them. People's dignity and privacy was respected. Staff knew people's needs and preferences and supported them to retain as much independence as possible. People were supported to access and participate in activities in their communities.

There was a robust complaints policy and procedure in place, however all the people spoken with told us they did not feel the need to raise a complaint.

People and staff found the registered manager to be approachable and supportive and people were positive about how the service was managed. Quality monitoring systems and processes although informal were in place to help monitor the quality and safety of the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below