Archived: Ashfield Care Ltd

Updated 22 March 2019

The Inspection ¿ 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.

The inspection team ¿ Consisted of an adult social care inspector.

Service and service type ¿ This domiciliary service provides personal care to people living in their own homes. They provide support for people that included, mental health, older people and learning disabilities.

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 ¿ The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provided a domiciliary care service to people who lived in the community. We needed to be sure that we could access the office premises and speak with people. This comprehensive inspection visit took place on March 04 & 5th March 2019 and was announced.

What we did preparing ¿ Before our inspection we completed our planning tool and reviewed the information we held on the service. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affect the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service and previous inspection reports.

We also checked to see if any information concerning the care and welfare of people supported by the service had been received. We contacted Herefordshire local contracts commissioning department. This helped us to gain a balanced overview of what people experienced accessing the service.

As part of the inspection we used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. 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.

During the inspection we spoke with a range of people about Ashfield Care, they included five people who used the service, three relatives, the registered manager, care manager and four staff members.

We looked at records related to the management of Ashfield Care Ltd. We did this to ensure the management team had oversight of the service and they could respond to any concerns highlighted or lead the agency in ongoing improvements. We also looked at staffing levels, training records and recruitment procedures for staff.

Updated 22 March 2019

About the service:

Ashfield Care Ltd provides care and support to people in their own homes in the Ross on Wye area. At the time of the inspection the service supported 39 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they felt well cared for by staff who treated them with respect, dignity and encouraged them to maintain relationships and keep their independence for as long as possible. One person who used the service said, “They all bar none are so kind and take an interest in me, so yes they do treat me so well.”

People who used the agency and relatives told us they felt confident in the management team and how the service operated. They told us good staffing levels afforded people responsive and dignified support.

Staff liaised with other health care professionals to ensure people's safety and meet their health needs.

Staff responsible for assisting people with their medicines had received training to ensure they had the competency and skills required.

Risk assessments had been developed to minimise the potential risk of harm to people. These had been kept under review and were relevant to the care provided.

Care plan information focused on a person-centred method of supporting people. Also, information contained what support was required for the person and consent to care evidence was seen throughout care documentation.

People’s care and support had been planned in partnership with them. People felt consulted and listened to about how their care would be delivered. We confirmed this by talking with people and relatives who used the agency.

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.

The management team used a variety of methods both formal and informal to assess and monitor the quality of the service. This enabled Ashfield Care to be monitored and improve systems and processes that were identified through their quality monitoring programme.

Rating at last inspection: Good (16 August 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

Follow up: The next scheduled inspection will be in keeping with the overall rating. We will continue to monitor information we receive from and about the service. We may inspect sooner if we receive concerning information about the service.

For more details please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk