Ethos Care

Updated 29 June 2023

The inspection

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post and a care manager who had day to day oversight of the service, we will refer to them as, ‘manager’ throughout this report.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 16 June 2023 and ended on 19 June 2023. We visited the location’s office on 16 June 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority service improvement and safeguarding teams. The provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with and received feedback from 12 members of staff including the registered manager, care manager, administrator, and care workers.

We received feedback from 1 health and social care professionals on their experience of working with the service.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 6 people's care records and medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 29 June 2023

About the service

Ethos Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own houses and flats. The service provides support to people in the Christchurch area of Dorset. At the time of our inspection there were 39 people receiving personal care and support.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

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

Right Culture

Governance systems were not always operating effectively, they had not identified some documentation was not in place for staff recruitment and actions from audits were not always documented as carried out. The service actively sought feedback on the service it provides and made individual changes for people. However, this was not consistently recorded and therefore feedback was not always used to shape the service. We have made a recommendation to the service about strengthening the systems, and they have been responsive to rectify the shortfalls. The registered manager and manager understood their statutory responsibilities and had made notifications to CQC as required by law. Staff felt appreciated by the management team, there were various ways the service showed thanks to their staff. There was a small staff team and they told us they felt involved.

Ethos Care was linked with the providers other service, they offered each other support. The service worked well with external health and social care professionals, and we received positive feedback on their working relationship. The Ethos Care management team were approachable, visible and supportive.

Right Support

There were enough staff to meet the needs of the service. Recruitment processes were in place to ensure staff had the necessary checks before starting work with the service. However, we found some gaps in the documentation, the manager acted immediately to obtain the missing information. People were protected from avoidable harm by a staff team who knew how to raise safeguarding concerns both within the service and outside. Staff told us they were confident their concerns would be acted upon by the manager.

Risks to people had been identified, assessed and actions taken to reduce them, this included environmental risks. Staff knew people well and risk assessments covered all aspects of their daily care and support. Staff had access to the electronic system which explained safe working practices. People told us they were happy with the service they received from Ethos Care. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff told us they promoted independence for people, one person told us, “They [staff] enable me to have a life.” People told us they knew who would be visiting them to provide care and were kept informed if staff were going to be late.

Right Care

People received their medicines as prescribed. Medicines management within the service was monitored by an electronic system. Staff had received training including regular assessment of their competency. An electronic care planning and medicines system supported safety, as changes to medicine regimes were made without delay. The system sent alerts to staff in the service office and they acted on any changes.

People were protected from the risk of avoidable infection. Staff had received training in infection prevention and control. There were plentiful supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff. The policy and guidance were in line with government and best practice guidance.

Accidents and incidents were recorded, analysed for themes and trends. Leadership was visible and staff knew their roles and responsibilities.

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

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 12 December 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating.

The overall rating for the service has remained as good based on the findings of this inspection.

Follow up

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