Background to this inspection
Updated
9 March 2019
The inspection:
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
The inspection was carried out by one adult social care (ASC) inspector.
Service and service type:
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats. It provides a service to older adults.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection:
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small, and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
What we did:
We reviewed information we had received about the service since registering with the CQC. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who work with the service. We assessed the 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection we spoke with two people who used the service to ask about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff, including the registered manager.
We reviewed a range of records. This included two people's care records and medicine records. We also looked at three staff files around staff recruitment. We also looked at records in relation to training and supervision of staff, records relating to the management of the home and a variety of policies and procedures developed and implemented by the provider.
Updated
9 March 2019
About the service: Your Life (Harrow) is a domiciliary care agency, which provides personal care to people living at Randolph House. Randolph House is an assisted living service managed by McCarthy & Stone a national shared ownership provider. Only have of Randolph House was fully occupied during our inspection. Currently two people received the regulated activity of personal care, the registered manager advised us that this would increase once the property was fully occupied.
People’s experience of using this service:
People told us they felt they received care in a safe way. Individual risks to people and the environment had been identified and assessed and measures put in place to manage them and minimise the risk of avoidable harm occurring. Care workers showed a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities for keeping people safe from harm. Medicines were managed safely by trained staff who ensured that people received medicines at the right time. Sufficient numbers of suitably qualified and skilled care workers were deployed to meet people's individual needs.
Care workers had received a range of training and support to enable them to carry out their role safely. People told us they received the right care and support from care workers who were well trained and competent at what they did.
Care workers were motivated to deliver care in a person-centred way based on people's preferences and likes. Care workers treated people with kindness, compassion and respect and ensured that people's dignity was maintained always. People spoke positively about the care and support they received.
People told us they received support from a consistent care team who knew them well. They told us care workers always arrived on time and stayed the right amount of time.
People's needs and choices were assessed and planned for. Care plans identified intended outcomes for people and how they were to be met in a way they preferred. Records relating to consent for care were accurately completed and people told us they were always offered choice and control over the care they received. Care was delivered in a personalised way which was in line with information recorded in people's care plans. People knew how to make a complaint and they were confident about complaining should they need to. They were confident that their complaint would be listened to and acted upon quickly.
The leadership of the service promoted person centred care and a positive culture within the staff team. An effective quality assurance system ensured that shortfalls in relation to the care provided could be addressed immediately and improvements in care made to the quality of care provided to people. People and care workers described the registered manager as supportive and approachable. The registered manager showed a continued desire to improve on the service and displayed knowledge and understanding around the importance of working closely with other agencies and healthcare professionals where needed.
Rating at last inspection: This was the first inspection since Your Life (Harrow) has been registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC)in September 2017.
Why we inspected: This was a planned comprehensive inspection
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we received about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information was received, we may inspect sooner.