Newdon Care Services Limited

The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The inspection took place on 6 June 2018 with the registered provider being given short notice of the visit to the office, in line with our current methodology for inspecting domiciliary care agencies. At our previous inspection in June 2017 the service was given an overall rating of 'Requires Improvement'. Concerns identified included care plans and risk assessments not being up to date and the monitoring and audit processes not identifying the shortfalls we found during the inspection. We asked the registered provider to submit an action plan outlining how they were going to address the shortfalls we found, which they did.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for 'Newdon Care Service Limited' on our website at www.cqc.org.uk'.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made regarding care plans and risk assessment updates, and the governance of the service was more robust.

People's needs had been assessed before their care package commenced and where possible they, or their relatives, had been involved in formulating care plans. Care plans provided satisfactory information and guidance to staff, which assisted them to deliver the care people needed, in the way they preferred. We found care plans and risk assessments had been updated in a timely manner and staff were clear about their role in ensuring care plans reflected people's current needs.

The system for assessing if staff were following company policies had been improved so shortfalls were identified in a timely manner and addressed promptly. However, these needed to be fully embedded into practice and reviewed to make sure they continued to be effective.

Improvements had also been made regarding how people were consulted about their satisfaction in the service they received and the outcomes of surveys had been shared with them. This meant people knew what action the registered provider had taken to address any areas for improvement.

The majority of the people we spoke with were happy with the quality of the care the service provided and how it was run. They said care workers met their needs and delivered their care as they wanted it delivering. People told us their privacy and dignity was respected and staff were competent in their work, kind, friendly

and helpful.

There were systems in place to reduce the risk of abuse and to assess and monitor potential risks to individual people. Concerns, complaints, incidents and accidents were being effectively investigated and monitored. This aimed to reduce risks to people and make sure they received the standard of care they expected.

Recruitment processes helped the employer make safer recruitment decisions when employing staff. Staff had undertaken a structured induction, essential training and received regular support, to help develop their knowledge and skills so they could effectively meet people's needs.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. Records showed people had consented to their planned care and staff understood the importance of gaining people's consent and acting in their best interest.

Where possible, people were encouraged to manage their own medication, with some people being supported by relatives. Where assistance was required support was provided by staff who had been trained to carry out this role. However, medication records were not always consistently completed.

The complaints policy was provided to people using the service along with other information about how the service intended to operate. The people we spoke with told us they would feel comfortable raising concerns, if they had any. When concerns had been raised we saw the correct procedure had been used to record, investigate and resolve issues.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found