Background to this inspection
Updated
9 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
The inspection was carried out by two inspectors. One inspector visited the office and a second made phone calls to people who received care packages from the agency.
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 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.
What we did before the inspection
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 reviewed all of the information we held about the service internally. This included notifications submitted to us relating to accidents, incidents or safeguarding concerns.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with eight people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke or received feedback from six members of staff including the registered manager and care workers.
We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and medication records. We looked at three 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.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and records.
Updated
9 July 2021
About the service
Everycare (East Surrey) is a service providing care to people’s in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received the regulated activity of 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. At the time of our inspection, the agency had 70 people with a care package, of which, 59 received personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People said they felt safe with staff and staff were aware of their risks and how to keep them free from harm. People received the medicines they required and records in relation to medicines were robust.
People confirmed staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment when providing care and staff confirmed they had received infection control and handwashing training.
Care was provided by a sufficient number of staff and people told us they usually saw the same care workers. Staff were recruited through a robust recruitment process. People were asked to give their feedback on the service they received and any concerns they raised were addressed.
Staff told us they received supervision, spot checks and appraisals. They also told us they felt supported by management and staff meetings had continued throughout the pandemic.
Since our last inspection the registered manager had made improvements to the service with the introduction of medicines audits and more regular opportunity for staff to meet with their line manager on an individual basis. Further improvements were planned with the introduction of an electronic care management system.
Rating at last inspection (and update)
The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (report published 20 September 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
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service in August 2019 when breaches of legal requirements were found relating to staffing and good governance.
We undertook this focused inspection to check the registered provider 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 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 Everycare (East Surrey) Ltd 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.