Background to this inspection
Updated
21 July 2021
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 Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
This inspection was undertaken by two inspectors and an 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 agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.
Notice of inspection
We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection and could send us information in advance.
Inspection activity started on 15 June 2021 and ended on 21 June 2021. We visited the office location on 15 June 2021.
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 and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with four people who used the service and seven relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the, registered manager, senior care workers, and care workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at four 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
21 July 2021
About the service
Agincare UK Medway is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, 97 people were accessing support from the service. Most of the people receiving support were older people. 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.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were positive about the support they received from staff. Comments included, “I've got a good carer, nice and kind, helps you all the time.” And, “The carers are on the whole lovely. I can't fault them at all.”
Staff knew how to protect people from the risk of harm through abuse. Where concerns were raised these were reported and acted upon. Staff had the training, information and knowledge they needed to support people with risks to their health. Medicines were managed safely to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff had access to personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves to protect them and people during the pandemic. People told us staff wore these. When incidents and accidents occurred, these were reported and acted upon.
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 were positive about the support they received and had regular supervision and appraisals. Checks were undertaken to ensure staff were competent administering medicines and moving people. Staff told us they felt listened to. There had been surveys for people and their relatives and staff to seek their opinion on the service. Auditing had been improved and actions were taken when shortfalls were identified. The service to worked in partnership with healthcare professionals to improve outcomes for people.
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 requires improvement (published 17 September 2019). There were two breaches of regulation in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. The provider completed an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve. We undertook a targeted inspection (published 08 October 2020) where we found they were no longer in breach of the regulations. However, the last inspection did not change the ratings.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
We undertook this focused inspection to review the rating of the service. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, and Well-led where the service was rated Requires Improvement.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Agincare UK Medway on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.