Enhance Wellbeing Domiciliary Service

Updated 5 May 2020

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission who was also the provider. This means that they 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. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 12 December 2019 and ended on 3 January 2020. We visited the office location on 12 and 13 December 2019 and spoke with people and staff on 20 December 2019 and 3 and 2 January 2020.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch Northamptonshire. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection-

We spoke with one person who used the service and one relative about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the provider/registered manager, office manager and three care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and information to support recruitment procedures.

Updated 5 May 2020

About the service

Enhance Wellbeing domiciliary service is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to older and younger people with mental health conditions, dementia and sensory impairments. People are cared for in their own homes. At the time of the inspection they were supporting five people.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Recruitment procedures required further development to ensure they met current best practice guidance and legislation. This had not impacted on people’s safety and staff had disclosure and barring checks in place. We have recommended that the registered manager seek guidance in this area. There were enough staff employed to meet people’s needs, staff were punctual and there were no missed calls. An electronic system managed staff time keeping and attendance and alerted the registered manager quickly of any concerns.

The registered manager had not fully understood the requirements around the administration and recording of prescribed creams, this was addressed immediately. Policies and procedure were in place for guidance around medicines and we found no other concerns in this area. People were protected from the spread of infection. Risks to people were assessed, planned into care and reviewed regularly.

Systems and processes were in place for recording accidents and incidents. The registered manager and staff understood the need to be open and honest if things went wrong. The registered manager knew how and when to report to appropriate organisations such as CQC or the local authority.

Staff were well supervised and trained to meet people’s need’s; some staff were in the process of completing training, but this had not put people at risk. Staff told us they felt well supported by the manager and found them approachable.

People were assessed before the service started, this considered their holistic needs including religion, culture, health and care needs, likes, dislikes and choices. Care planning was person centred and people told us they were leading their care. People told us they liked the registered manager and felt confident they were listened to. People were given a copy of the complaints procedure and told us they knew how to make a complaint and were confident if they did it would be well managed. People were supported with access to health care professionals and there was evidence of staff and the registered manager working in partnership with other professionals.

People told us they were supported by a regular team of staff who were kind and caring and they enjoyed their company. People were supported to be as independent as possible this was reflected in care plan records and people’s and relatives’ comments supported this.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

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

Rating at last inspection This service was registered with us on 07/12/2018 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on our inspection schedule.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.