The inspection was carried out on 10 July 2018, and was announced.

Brooklands Homecare (Edenbridge) is a domiciliary care agency that supports and cares for people who want to remain in the comfort of their own home. They provide support for older people and people living with disabilities in Kent, East Sussex and Surrey. Brooklands Homecare (Edenbridge) was registered with the Care Quality Commission in May 2015. 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 time of our inspection, there were approximately 80 people who received support with personal care tasks.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection, we found the service requires improvement.

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.

The registered manager had not always followed effective recruitment procedures to check that potential staff employed were of good character and had the skills and experience needed to carry out their roles. The registered manager had not ensured that all staff had two suitable references before working alone in the community and some staff had no appropriate vehicle documentations to carry out their work.

The registered manager had processes in place to monitor the delivery of the service. However, this had not been effective in rectifying the shortfall we found in recruitment. We have made a recommendation about this.

The registered manager and staff knew what their responsibilities were in relation to keeping people safe from the risk of abuse. The registered manager and staff recognised the signs of abuse and what to look out for. There were systems in place to support staff and people to stay safe. Medicines were managed safely and people received them as prescribed.

There were systems in place to monitor incidents and accidents. There were arrangements in place for the service to make sure that action was taken and lessons were learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service.

The registered manager deployed sufficient numbers of staff to meet people’s needs and provide a flexible service.

Management systems were in use to minimise the risks from the spread of infection as staff received training about controlling infection and had access to personal protective equipment like disposable gloves and aprons.

Staff had received training as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they were employed to perform. All staff received induction training at start of their employment. Refresher training was provided at regular intervals.

People’s needs had been properly assessed by Brooklands Homecare prior to receiving support from the service. Care plans had been developed with people by Brooklands Homecare on how to meet their needs.

Staff understood the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and how to support people's best interest if they lacked capacity. People continued to be 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 support this practice.

Staff continued to have good levels of support and supervision to enable them to carry out their roles. There was a programme of planned training which was relevant to the work staff carried out and the needs of the people using the service.

People continued to receive care from staff that were caring. People were treated with dignity and respect and staff ensured their privacy was maintained.

People were encoura

We undertook a focused inspection on 28 November 2016 in response to concerns that we have received. This report only covers our findings in relation to part of the questions ‘Is the service effective?’, Is the service caring?’ and ‘Is the service well-led?’. We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection of this service on 13 November 2015, at which a breach of legal requirements was found in regard to mental capacity training and relevant processes. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection on our website at www.cqc.org.uk. After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breach. We also checked that they had followed their plan to confirm that they now met legal requirements.

Brooklands Homecare (Edenbridge) is a domiciliary care agency that supports and cares for people who want to remain in the comfort of their own home. They provide support for older people and people living with disabilities in Kent, East Sussex and Surrey. Brooklands Homecare (Edenbridge) was registered with the Care Quality Commission in May 2015. There were approximately 55 people receiving care from Brooklands at the time of our inspection.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

The provider was meeting the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005. The management team and staff had been trained in the principles of the MCA and appropriate assessments of people's mental capacity were carried out.

All staff had completed essential training relevant to their role and were scheduled for refresher courses. There was an appropriate system in place to monitor staff practice and staff received appropriate one to one supervision and additional support or training when necessary.

People and their relatives told us staff had developed positive relationships with them and described their practice in positive terms. Privacy and dignity in practice were included for discussions at regular staff meetings.

There was an open and positive culture which focussed on people. People described the management team in positive terms.

The manager sought people's views, acted on feedback and learned from complaints in order to improve the service and people's experiences. Appropriate action was taken when staff did not abide by the expected code of conduct.

The inspection was announced and was carried out on 09 November 2015 by an inspector, supported by an expert by experience. Brooklands Homecare (Edenbridge) is a domiciliary care agency that supports and cares for people who want to remain in the comfort of their own home. They provide support for older people and people living with disabilities in Kent, East Sussex and Surrey. Brooklands Homecare (Edenbridge) was registered with the Care Quality Commission in May 2015.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Staff were trained in how to protect people from abuse and harm. They knew how to recognise signs of abuse and how to report any concerns.

Risk assessments were centred on the needs of the individual. They included clear measures to reduce identified risks and guidance for staff to follow to make sure people were protected from harm. Accidents and incidents were recorded and monitored to identify how risks of recurrence could be reduced.

There were enough qualified, skilled and experienced staff to meet people's needs. Staffing levels were calculated according to people’s changing needs. The provider followed safe recruitment practices.

Each person’s needs and personal preferences had been assessed before support was provided and were regularly reviewed. This ensured that the staff could provide care in a way that met people’s particular needs and wishes.

Staff knew each person well and understood how to meet their support needs. People told us, “My primary care worker knows me so well I feel she can read my thoughts.”

Staff and the management team had not completed essential training in the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and the requirements of the relevant legislation. This is a breach of Regulation 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

All members of care staff received regular one to one supervision sessions and were scheduled for an annual appraisal to ensure they were supporting people based on their needs.

Staff sought and obtained people’s consent before they provided support. People told us that staff communicated effectively with them, responded to their needs promptly and treated them with kindness and respect. People were satisfied with how their support was delivered.

Clear information about the service, the management, the facilities, and how to complain was provided to people. Information was available in a format that met people’s needs.

People’s privacy was respected and people were supported in a way that respected their dignity and independence.

People were referred to health care professionals when needed and in a timely way. Personal records included people’s individual support plans, likes and dislikes and preferred activities. The staff promoted people’s independence and encouraged them to do as much as possible for themselves.

People’s individual assessments and support plans were reviewed regularly with their participation. People’s support plans were updated when their needs changed to make sure they received the support they needed.  

The provider took account of people’s comments and suggestions. People’s views were sought and acted upon. The provider sought and obtained their feedback on the quality of the service. The results were analysed and action was taken in response to people’s views.

Staff told us they felt valued under the manager’s leadership. The manager notified the Care Quality Commission of any significant events that affected people or the service. Quality assurance checks were carried out to identify how the service could improve and remedial action was taken when necessary.