Barnfield HomeCare

At the time of our visit the agency supported 42 people who received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do provide personal care, staff also consider any wider social care provided. Care calls ranged from 30- minutes to eight-hour duration at the time of this inspection.

People and relatives were complimentary about the service they or their relative received. People and relatives said improvements had been made since our last inspection when we inspected under different business ownership. Relatives in particular told us, management, communication and feeling involved in their family members care was much better.

People were cared for by staff who were safely recruited. Staff and the provider knew how to keep people safe and protected from abusive practice. Systems to learn lessons when things went wrong helped to drive improvements and the registered manager notified us and the relevant body at the right times.

People said staff were kind, caring, gentle and always willing to do what was needed and expected of them. People were cared for by staff who attended training relevant to their roles. Assessments were completed before care was provided. This helped to ensure staff had the relevant skills and knowledge to meet a person's needs.

Staff followed infection control procedures in line with national guidance for reducing the spread of COVID- 19.

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.

Staff's knowledge of how to support people was consistent with people's care needs, however changes were not always recorded swiftly in people's care plans. Risks related to people's care were recorded and reviewed, but these were not always detailed and updated. There were instructions for staff to follow to manage those identified risks, however for some risks, such as risks related to specialist equipment, these needed to be more specific. The registered manager assured us this would be addressed.

People feedback from our telephone calls showed regular checks on their satisfaction were made any improvements or changes were swiftly made.

People and staff were complimentary of the management team. People and relatives said the management team was approachable and responsive.