ENA Homecare Service

Updated 21 May 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.

As part of this inspection we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the service in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out this inspection.

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

This inspection was announced.

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because some of the people using it could not consent to a telephone call from an inspector. This meant that we had to arrange for a ‘best interests’ decision about this.

What we did before the inspection

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. We spoke with commissioners of the service. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with five members of staff and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records in relation to the support provided and management of the service.

Updated 21 May 2021

About the service

ENA Homecare Service is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to younger adults and older people in and around Swadlincote. The service currently provides a service for 44 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 felt safe and felt improvements had been made within the service. People generally had a small team of staff who provided their support, and they felt staff knew them well. This enabled them to feel more confident and at ease with staff. People felt there was enough staff to provide their care and staff generally arrived when they were expected.

Staff understood how to recognise where people may be at risk of harm or abuse and knew what action to take. People received support to take medicines and staff knew how to act where they were concerned, or medicines had been missed.

People had been involved with developing their care plan and had a copy of their care records in their home. People felt the care records reflected the support they wanted, and this had been reviewed with them. People knew how to make a complaint, although felt they had not needed to raise any concern.

The registered manager had developed systems to enable them to monitor service provision remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. They knew current guidelines to reduce the risk of transmission and ensured staff had necessary equipment to keep safe and arrangements were made for staff to participate in weekly tests for COVID-19.

The registered manager undertook a range of checks as part of their quality audit to identify shortfalls. The registered manager was committed to developing the service and providing good care and support.

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 8 November 2019). The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve.

At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the service can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 18 September 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve staffing and safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements.

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 ENA Home Care Services 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.