Homecare for you Limited Lancashire

Updated 13 December 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 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.

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

The inspection site visit activity started on 19 November 2018 and ended on 20 November 2018. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector and an expert 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; in addition, the expert by experience could effectively communicate with people whose first language was not English.

In preparation for our visit, we checked the information we held about the service and the provider. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the registered provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events, which the service is required to send us by law. We also contacted the local authority safeguarding team for information about the service and considered information shared with us from the local authority commissioners.

We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We visited the office location on 19 November 2018 to meet with the registered provider, the managing director and the training manager and to review care records and policies and procedures. We reviewed a range of records about people’s care and the way the service was managed. These included the care records for four people, medicine administration records, staff training records, four staff recruitment files, staff supervision and appraisal records, minutes from meetings, quality assurance audits, incident and accident reports, complaints and compliments records and records relating to the management of the service. We also looked at the results from the most recent customer satisfaction survey completed by people using the service.

Following the visit to the agency office, we spoke with seven people using the service, three relatives and four staff over the telephone.

Updated 13 December 2018

We carried out an announced inspection of Homecare For You Limited Lancashire on 19 and 20 November 2018.

Homecare For You Limited Lancashire is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. Not everyone using Homecare For You Limited Lancashire receives a regulated activity. The care quality commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’ such as help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also take into account any wider social care provided. At the time of the inspection, there were 160 people being supported by the agency.

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.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

People and their relatives told us they felt safe and staff were caring, reliable and trustworthy. Safeguarding procedures were in place and staff understood their responsibilities to safeguard people from abuse. Risk assessments were carried out to enable people to retain their independence and receive care with minimum risk to themselves or others. Safe and appropriate recruitment procedures were followed to make sure only suitable staff were employed. People received their medicines when they needed them from staff who had been trained and had their competency checked.

People received care and support from a consistent team of staff with whom they were familiar. Staff arrived on time and stayed for the full time allocated. People told us they were always treated with kindness, care and respect. Staff had developed good relationships with people and were familiar with their needs, routines and preferences. Staff had sufficient knowledge and skills to meet people's needs effectively. They completed an in depth and structured induction programme when they started work and they were up to date with mandatory training. Staff were supported by the management team and were happy working for the agency.

People were involved in discussions and decisions about the care and support they needed and could influence the delivery of their care. Staff had up to date information about people’s needs and wishes and there were effective systems in place to respond when their needs changed. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and their healthcare needs were monitored as appropriate. Staff had good links with other healthcare professionals to ensure people’s healthcare needs were met. People were supported with their dietary needs in accordance with their care plan.

People were aware of the complaints procedure and processes and were confident they would be listened to should they raise any concerns. Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service and people’s feedback was sought in relation to the standard of care and support. The quality and safety of the service was monitored and appropriate action was taken to address any shortfalls. People and relatives told us that they were satisfied with the service provided and with the way it was managed.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.