Chislehurst Homecare Partnership

People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. This can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). When people receive care and treatment in their own homes an application must be made to the Court of Protection for them to authorise people to be deprived of their liberty. At the time of assessment, no one was deprived of their liberty or had any restrictions placed on them. Staff had a good understanding of the MCA and worked within the principles of the act. Staff sought consent from people before delivering care and respected their choices and wishes.

People received support from staff who understand their individual needs and supported them to remain as independent as possible within their own homes. People were supported by enough staff who had the skills and knowledge to support them safely. The provider used an electronic call monitoring system to allocate staff to support people. Staff logged into the system when they commenced providing care. This ensured people received their care and support when required and alerted office staff if staff were delayed. Risks were assessed to ensure safety and people were involved in the care planning process. Reviews of people’s care was completed on a regular basis to help ensure their support was reflective and responsive to meet their current needs and risks.

There were effective systems in place to safeguard people from abuse. Medicines were administered safely and staff received appropriate training and medicines competencies to ensure continued safe practice. There were robust recruitment processes in place to help ensure staff were recruited safely. Staff received regular training, support and spot checks within the community to help ensure they were competent to deliver safe care.

Staff spoke positively about the service, management and the personalised care provided. Comments included, “Managers are very supportive, we are like a family, a good team who know people very well and meet their individual needs”, “Team meeting are very good, we share ideas and practice”, “We get lots of training and the managers are very supportive”, and “The best service I’ve worked for. People get real person-centred care.”

The service had a registered manager in post, and they demonstrated a clear understanding of what happens within the service and maintained good oversight of the day-to-day management of the service. Audits and checks were in place to oversee service delivery ensuring people’s safety and needs were met.