Radfield Home Care Limited – Shrewsbury received a Good rating across all five key questions at its announced inspection on 7 September 2016. The service demonstrated consistent, person-centred care supported by effective governance, well-trained staff and a proactive, community-engaged management team.
Strengths
· People felt safe with staff and reported staff always arrived on time; an electronic system alerted the office if staff were late to a call.
· Staff received regular training and had ongoing competency checks, particularly for medication administration.
· Regular supervisions and observations were in place, with people involved in giving feedback on staff performance.
· Care plans were person-centred, regularly reviewed, and updated in real time via an electronic system accessible to all staff.
· Strong complaints process with lessons learned shared at team meetings; a 'book' captured informal concerns and actions taken.
Radfield Home Care Shrewsbury maintained its Good rating across all five key questions at this June 2019 inspection, with people and relatives reporting kind, safe and responsive care from a well-regarded staff team. Minor improvements were identified around medication record detail, recruitment documentation, care plan richness and audit robustness, all of which the provider was actively addressing.
Concerns (4)
minorMedication management: “we highlighted information in these as well as completion at times needed to be more detailed”
minorRecord keeping: “where checks revealed risk, recruitment decisions and safety measures taken needed to be documented more robustly”
minorCare planning: “electronic care plans included basic information about people's backgrounds and needs...we considered that the development of care plans would help to share this knowledge in more detail”
minorGovernance: “audits and checks at times needed to be improved to more robustly identify and act on issues, such as relating to medication or recruitment”
Strengths
· People and relatives reported staff provided safe, kind and caring support with no missed calls
· Very well-respected management team who led by example by carrying out care calls
· Staff received induction mapped to the Care Certificate and regular supervision
· Service worked with specialist dementia nurses and supported a dementia café in partnership with a local hospital
· Active engagement with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans organisations to develop equality and diversity practice
Quality-Statement breakdown (23)
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely careGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needs; Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
responsive: Supporting people to develop and maintain relationships to avoid social isolationGood
responsive: End of life care and supportGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careGood