Archived: Brentwood Homecare

Updated 19 February 2016

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 took place on 18 and 19 January 2016. We gave the manager 48 hours’ notice of our intention to visit to ensure they were available at the time of the visit. The inspection was carried out by one adult social care inspector.

Before the inspection, we contacted the local authority contracting unit for feedback and checked the information we held about the service and the provider. This included statutory notifications sent to us by the manager 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 used all this information to decide which areas to focus on during our inspection.

We also sent a satisfaction questionnaire to 50 people using the service and 50 relatives; we received 24 completed questionnaires from people and two from relatives.

During the inspection, we spoke with eight people using the service and three relatives over the telephone. We also spoke to five members of care staff and three staff based in the office as well as the manager.

We spent time looking at a range of records during our time spent in the agency’s office, this included five people’s care plans and other associated documentation, a sample of policies and procedures and quality assurance records.

Updated 19 February 2016

We carried out an inspection of Brentwood Homecare on 18 and 19 January 2016. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of our intention to carry out the inspection.

Brentwood Homecare is registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes. The agency’s office is located in the centre of Rosegrove, close to all local amenities. The agency provides a service to people residing in Burnley and Pendle. At the time of the inspection 68 people were using the service.

The nominated representative for Brentwood Homecare Ltd was acting as the manager of the service and is referred to as the manager throughout the report. There was no 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. Following the inspection we received correspondence from the manager to confirm he had begun the process to register with the Commission.

We last inspected this service on 14 January 2013 and found it was meeting the regulations that were applicable at this time. During this inspection we found the service was meeting the current regulations.

People and their relatives were happy with the service they received from Brentwood Homecare. They told us they felt safe using the service. Potential risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed and managed effectively. Staff showed awareness of how to keep people safe and understood the policies and procedures used to safeguard people. Staff were also aware of the procedures to follow to ensure that medicines were handled safely.

No new staff had been recruited since our last inspection. We were therefore unable to check recruitment records.

The manager ensured there were sufficient staff available to cover for emergency absences and other leave in order to ensure that there were no missed visits.

There were policies and procedures relating to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the manager had prepared information for the staff in order to increase their knowledge on this legislation. Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to gaining consent before providing support and care.

Where people required assistance with their dietary needs there were systems in place to provide this support safely. People were supported as necessary, with meal planning, preparation, eating and drinking.

There were systems in place to ensure all staff received regular training and supervision.

Staff were respectful of people’s privacy and maintained their dignity. All people spoken with told us the staff were kind and caring. People were actively involved in the development and review of their care plans. This meant people were able to influence the delivery of their care and staff had up to date information about people’s needs and wishes. People told us they usually received care from a consistent group of staff.

People, their relatives and staff spoken with had confidence in the manager and felt the agency was well managed. We found there were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service, which included feedback from people using the service.