Archived: Synergy Homecare - Burnley

Updated 14 June 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 comprehensive inspection took place on 11 and 15 May 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available in the office. The inspection was undertaken by one adult care inspector.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a detailed 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.

In preparation for our visit, we looked at previous inspection reports, notifications (events which happened in the service that the provider is required to tell us about) and information that had been sent to us by other agencies, including the local authority’s contract monitoring team.

In addition, we sent satisfaction questionnaires to 50 people using the service and 50 relatives; we received 20 completed questionnaires from people and four from relatives. We also sent 39 questionnaires to staff and 11 were returned. We analysed the responses and took these into account when considering the evidence for the report.

During the inspection, we spoke with 11 people using the service, two relatives and four staff over the telephone. We also spoke with the registered manager and the care coordinators during our time spent in the agency’s office.

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, two 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 surveys completed by people using the service.

Updated 14 June 2018

We carried out an announced inspection of Synergy Homecare - Burnley on 11 and 15 May 2018.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. At the time of the inspection, 136 people were receiving a service from the agency.

At the last inspection, in January 2016 the service was rated overall as ‘Good’ with "Requires Improvement" in the key question of Effective. At this inspection, we found the service had improved and was rated "Good" in all five key questions. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Appropriate recruitment procedures were followed to ensure prospective staff were suitable to work for the service. People received their medicines when they needed them from staff who had been trained and had their competency checked. Risk assessments were carried out to enable people to retain their independence and receive care with minimum risk to themselves or others. People were kept safe from abuse and harm and staff knew how to report any suspicions around abuse. Staff understood best practice for reducing the risk of infection.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff received effective training to meet people's needs. An induction and training programme was in place for all staff. A detailed assessment was carried out to assess people’s needs and preferences prior to them receiving a service. This meant that care outcomes were planned and staff understood what support each person required. People were supported with their healthcare and nutritional needs as appropriate.

Care and support was planned and personalised to each person, which ensured they were able to make choices about their daily lives. People had access to a complaints procedure and were confident any concerns would be taken seriously and acted upon. Where people received end of life care this was planned and provided sensitively.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service, which included seeking and responding to feedback from people and their relatives in relation to the standard of care and support.