About the service:

Ask Butler is a domiciliary care service that was providing personal care to 15 people in their own homes at the time of the inspection.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

People’s experience of using this service:

¿ People received kind and compassionate care.

¿ Care staff received good support from the management to carry out their role effectively.

¿ Staff had access to a wide range of training relevant to the needs of the people using the service.

¿ Senior managers were present and had a good knowledge of all the people using the service.

¿ Staff felt supported by their managers and could get advice and guidance when they needed it.

¿ There were systems in place to check the quality and effectiveness of the care being provided.

¿ The service had developed emergency contingency plans for when things go wrong.

¿ People were satisfied that the service was doing everything they could to meet the needs of their family member.

¿ Relatives of people receiving care felt staff and management were caring.

¿ The service actively supported people.

¿ The service communicated well with other lead agencies and partners.

¿ There was good communication between the service and other healthcare professionals so.

¿ People’s healthcare needs would be met.

¿ Care plans were not very clear about people’s capacity to consent.

¿ Care plans also did not have details about personal preferences of how people wanted their care.

¿ We went back to the service to ensure that the registered manager had implemented the necessary changes and we are satisfied that the care plans have improved to a satisfactory standard.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (The date the last report was published was 3 September 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. The service remains Good.

Follow up:

Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our reinspection schedule for those services rated Good.

Ask Butler is a domiciliary care agency that provides care and support to people living in their own homes. The inspection was announced and we informed the provider 48 hours before the inspection that we would be coming, to ensure that key staff would be available. At the time of the inspection 12 people were receiving personal care, and this was the first inspection since the service registered on 19 May 2014.

There was a registered manager at the service. 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.

Relatives told us their family members felt safe with care staff. Care staff understood how to raise any safeguarding concerns. Risks were assessed and individual written guidance was developed, so that people could continue to live at home as safely as possible in line with their own wishes.

The provider employed sufficient skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs. Appropriate pre-employment checks were undertaken before care staff were appointed, in order to ascertain whether staff were suitable to provide care and support for people who used the service. The provider confirmed they will now ensure the verification of all employment references.

Staff received appropriate training, supervision and support to effectively meet people’s needs. This included training and guidance in relation to seeking people’s consent before providing personal care, supporting people to make their own choices and decisions and how to meet the needs of people receiving palliative care.

Relatives told us their family members received compassionate and tender care, and were treated with the utmost respect. Staff described how they ensured people’s dignity and confidentiality was maintained.

The registered manager and office manager offered support and assistance to people and their relatives when there was a crisis or they needed help to access other resources. They maintained good links with people who were in hospital to support them to smoothly resume their care packages once discharged, and to provide emotional support at a particularly difficult time.

The service responded to people’s needs and provided personalised care. The provider sought feedback from people and their relatives, and ensured that people and their relatives had clear information about how to make a complaint.

People received a well-led service. The registered manager led the staff team by example, as he demonstrated a clear vision about the caring values of the service and the good standard of care and support people should receive. Staff were positive about how they were managed and the support they were given. Systems were in place to audit and monitor the quality of the service.