Annix Care

Updated 15 December 2023

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector, and 1 Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 14 November 2023 and ended on 23 November 2023. We visited the location’s office on 14 November 2023.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since their registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people and 11 relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with 6 members of staff including the registered manager, deputy manager and 4 support workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 5 people's care records. We looked at 2 staff files in relation to recruitment. We also looked at a variety of records relating to the management and quality assurance of the service, including policies, procedures, safeguarding, accident and incident records.

Updated 15 December 2023

About the service

Annix Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to older people, people with dementia, people with a physical disability, sensory impairment or younger adults. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 14 people.

People's experience of using this service and what we found

The provider had safeguarding systems and processes to help keep people safe. Staff knew about the risks to people and followed the assessments to ensure they met people's needs. People felt safe and were supported by staff who knew how to protect them from avoidable harm.

Staff had been recruited appropriately and had received relevant training, so they were able to support people with their individual care and support needs.

People were supported to access healthcare professionals when their needs changed.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way and in their best interests: the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. People's individual communication needs were considered to support them to be involved in their care.

Systems and processes in place promoted a positive culture in the service. The management and care team ensured they supported people in a person-centred way to reflect people's equality and diverse needs.

The quality of care provided was continually assessed, reviewed and improved. People using the service, relatives and staff were given the opportunity to provide feedback. Audits took place to ensure the quality of the service was maintained. The service worked well with health and other professionals to ensure people's needs were met.

Staff told us the service was a good place to work as they were supported and encouraged to raise any concerns as people’s needs changed. People told us the culture of the service was to listen and respond to them.

Relatives told us they were involved in managing people’s care and support needs and suggestions they made regarding their family member’s preferences were acted on. Concerns were responded to in a timely way and information about the support people wanted to receive at the end of their life was recorded.

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

Rating at last inspection

This is the first rating of this service since. The service was registered with us on 25 February 2021.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not previously received a rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.