Age UK Brighton and Hove is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses in the community. It provides a service to older adults, younger disabled adults and children. In addition, the service offers short-term support to people who have been through a crisis, have no one that can help them and this is usually available for seven to 14 days. This gives a person an opportunity to recover or allows time for health and social care professionals to identify a permanent care provider. The crisis intervention plans reduced the risk of avoidable hospital admissions and promoted rapid and safe hospital discharges. At the time of the inspection, 15 people were using the service.

Not everyone using Age UK Brighton and Hove receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection, we found the service remained Good.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff sought people’s consent before providing care and treatment.

People were protected from abuse. Staff followed the provider’s safeguarding procedures to identify and report concerns to people’s well-being and safety.

Appropriate risk management systems were in place. Staff followed the guidance in place to support people safely in line with the risks identified to each person’s health and well-being. People received the support they required to take their medicines.

People were supported by a sufficient number of staff who underwent appropriate recruitment checks. Staff knew how to minimise the risk of infection.

Appropriate systems were in place to enable staff to report and learn from incidents that may happen at the service. Staff had access to out of hours’ guidance for additional support when responding to an emergency or difficult situation.

Staff received support, regular supervision and attended training to enable them to undertake their roles effectively. People were involved in the planning and review of their care. Staff delivered people’s care in line with their changing needs, preferences and best practice guidance.

People received care in a manner that treated them with respect and promoted their privacy and dignity. Staff developed positive relationships with the people they supported and offered emotional support when needed.

People were encouraged to maintain a healthy diet and to have sufficient food to eat and drink. Staff supported people to access healthcare services when required.

People were confident about making a complaint and had received information about how to make their concerns known. The registered manager sought people’s views about the service and acted on their feedback.

People and staff commended the registered manager and their care provision. People received person-centred care and benefitted from an open and transparent culture.

The quality of care was checked and monitored regularly. The registered manager made improvements when necessary to develop the service. There was collaboration between the registered manager and other agencies to enhance the quality of care provided to people.

The inspection took place at Age UK Brighton and Hove on the 17 November 2015. This service provided by Age UK in Brighton delivers emergency domiciliary care to older people who are in a 'crisis' and require support to ensure that they can stay in their own homes and prevent hospital admission. This service is provided for a maximum of 14 days until a formal care package can be arranged by other services. This service runs on the ethos of ensuring each service user has their individual needs addressed daily and adjusts the amount of support provided. At the time of our inspection the service supported approximately 29 people and employed 13 staff.

The service had a registered manager. 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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Age UK Brighton and Hove was last inspected on 22 November 2013 and no concerns were identified.

The service had good systems in place to keep people safe. Assessments of risks to people had been developed and were continually reviewed. The service employed enough, qualified and trained staff, and ensured safety through appropriate recruitment practices.

People said they always got their care visit, they were happy with the care and the staff that supported them. One person told us, “They let themselves in, they do as I ask and they are all very helpful”.

The service did not administer medication to people, but would ‘prompt’ them to ensure that they took the medication they needed. There were systems in place to ensure that staff had knowledge of medication and what procedures they should follow.

Should people lack mental capacity to make specific decisions, the service was guided by the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) to ensure any decisions were made in the person’s best interests.

People told us they were involved in the planning and review of their care. We were given examples that showed the service had followed good practice and safe procedures in order to keep people safe.

Staff received an induction, basic training and additional specialist training in areas such as end of life care and dementia. Staff had group and one to one meetings which were held regularly, in order for them to discuss their role and share any information or concerns.

If needed, people were supported with their food and drink and this was monitored if required.

The needs and choices of people had been clearly documented in their care plans. Where people’s needs changed the service acted quickly to ensure the person received the care and support they required. A member of staff told us, “I would recognise if someone was unwell. I would phone the GP, or contact their family or the office”.

People and their family members told us they were supported by kind and caring staff. A person told us, “They are so nice to me”. Another person said, “They are brilliant, really caring”. Staff were able to tell us about the people they supported, for example their likes, dislikes and preferences.

People’s personal preferences were recorded on file and staff encouraged people to be involved in their care. A person told us, “My son spoke to them about this and we worked it all out”.

People knew how to raise concerns or complaints and felt they would be listened to.

The management provided good leadership and support to the staff. One member of staff told us, “The managers’ are approachable, there’s no problem. The service is well managed”.

Quality assurance was undertaken by the provider to measure and monitor the standard of the service provided.

We spoke to six people who used the service, three carers, the registered manager and two service managers during the inspection process. The people who used the service told us they were, “very happy” with the service delivered by the staff team and Age UK. One person told us, “The staff are wonderful”.

We found that people who used the service had their privacy, dignity and independence respected.

Age UK had systems in place to gain and review consent from people who use the services and therefore can be confident that peoples human rights are respected and taken into account.

Age UK delivered safe, effective, treatment and support that met people’s needs and protected their rights.

People had their health and welfare needs met by staff who were fit, appropriately qualified and were physically and mentally able to do their job.

We found staff were properly supported and properly trained, supervised and appraised.

Records held by the service were accurate, fit for purpose, held securely and remained confidential. We also saw that records were only accessible to staff who had the authority to view such records.

People told us they received a very high quality of service from Age UK Brighton and Hove. They talked about how well staff met their needs and how helpful and kind the staff were when they visited.