Home Instead Bristol East

Updated 10 June 2021

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 houses and flats.

A new manager had started in post two weeks prior to the inspection and was planning to submit an application to register with the Care Quality Commission. This will mean 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. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider and the care manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 19 May 2021 and ended on 25 May 2020. We visited the office location on 19 and 25 May 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the office site visit we looked at records, which included three people's care and medicines records. We checked recruitment, training and supervision records for three care givers. We also looked at a range of records about how the service was managed. We spoke with the provider, the care manager, and two office administrators responsible for the recruitment and the scheduling of client visits.

After the inspection

We telephoned four people using the service and, five relatives about their experience of using the service. We spoke with six care givers on their experience of working for the agency. We also emailed two external health and social care professionals who responded and gave us their views about the service. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found such as requesting further information about training, quality assurance and safeguarding procedures.

Updated 10 June 2021

About the service

Home Instead Bristol East are a domiciliary care agency (DCA). The service provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of our inspection the service supported 20 people with the regulated activity of personal care. People had a range of health needs with some people living with the experience of dementia.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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

People spoke positively about the service they were receiving from Home Instead Bristol East. People were involved in making decisions about their care and told us they felt safe whilst receiving care and support. They told us the care staff known as care givers were kind and caring.

Care givers knew how to keep people safe and free from avoidable harm. Risk assessments were in place. Care givers knew what to report to the office to ensure people were safe. Policies and procedures were in place on keeping people safe, which included the reporting of allegations of abuse.

People received support from a consistent team of staff that knew them well. Visits were completed at the time agreed and for the full amount of time. Care givers had been through a thorough recruitment process and received the training and the support they needed to support people safely and effectively. This included infection control training to keep people and themselves safe in relation to the pandemic.

People were encouraged to maintain a healthy balanced diet and they had access to health care professionals when they needed them. Where people’s needs had changed appropriate referrals had been made to other health and social care professionals.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service and make improvements. This included seeking the views of the people who use the service. Care givers felt supported by the provider and the management team.

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

Rating at last inspection (and update)

This service was registered with us on 20/02/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection.

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.