Archived: Blossom Home Care Teesdale and Weardale

Updated 26 May 2022

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

Blossom Home Care Teesdale and Weardale is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means the registered manager and the registered provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave a short period of notice of the inspection because we needed to ensure the registered manager was available and to contact people to gather their feedback.

Inspection activity started on 29 March and ended on 21 April 2022. One inspector visited the office location on 7 April 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We also sought feedback from partner agencies and healthcare professionals. These included the local authority’s contracts and commissioning services. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection

We contacted all the people who used the service and received feedback from five people using the service and 15 relatives. We spoke with registered manager, deputy manager and one of the providers. We also received feedback from 19 of the care staff.

We looked at three people's care records and three staff recruitment files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including audits and action plans, were reviewed.

Updated 26 May 2022

About the service

Blossom Home Care Teesdale and Weardale is a new service registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes in rural County Durham. At the time of our inspection there were 26 people using the service.

Not everyone using Blossom Home Care Teesdale and Weardale receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with '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 reported they were extremely satisfied with the service. People and relatives said staff excelled at their jobs and always went above and beyond in delivering the care. They described the little extras staff just did as a part of their job. Some people commented this had never occurred when they had used other home care provision.

Staff were passionate about providing good care outcomes and took ownership for their practice. People found the service provided a high standard of care and the quality of staff working with them was exemplary.

Staff found the management team's expectation to treat everyone compassionately, give people all the time they needed, treat each person as an individual and look after the individual as if they were a relative WAS an excellent approach to adopt. Staff found this enabled them to really work to their best and they really loved working for the company.

The team had won several awards for their performance including a business of the year award. It was evident from feedback we received the service had lived up to its aim of delivering holistic and compassionate care, which enabled people to enjoy a superb quality of life and assisted them to remain in their own home for longer.

The management team had created an extremely robust governance system, which rapidly identified the smallest of issue, which was then quickly addressed.

There were enough staff on duty to cover the care packages. Staff reported the rotas were very well organised and enabled them to easily travel to deliver each care package and meant they had enough time to properly support people. Staff said when people needed extra support the care packages were readily extended. An active recruitment programme was in place and all avenues were explored such as having a stall at a local fete as means of attracting staff.

Medicine management was effective and closely monitored. Staff who administered medicines had the appropriate training.

Staff adhered to COVID regulations and procedures. The registered manager ensured staff had access to ample supplies of PPE and they completed regular spot checks to make sure staff complied with the guidance and best practice.

The registered manager and deputy manager undertook all the assessments and these were used as the basis for the care records. The deputy manager ensured the assessments fully captured people's need. When necessary, external professionals were involved in individual people’s care.

Staff had received mandatory and condition-specific training. Staff supervision sessions were regularly completed, as well as spot checks and competency assessments.

Staff had received training around the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and associated code of practice and felt confident applying this in their practice. 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.

Some people needed staff to assist them prepare meals. The care records clearly set out what people wanted, how the food was to be prepared and associated risks such as choking were to be managed. People reported the staff made lovely meals.

Staff took steps to safeguard people and promote their human rights. The management team confirmed they took all concerns seriously and determined what lessons could be learnt. Since started no one had needed to make a formal complaint.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 5 November 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not previously been rated.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.