Background to this inspection
Updated
16 May 2020
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 completed by one 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.
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 we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
What we did before 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. 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 six people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with nine members of staff including the head of operations , registered manager, senior care workers, care workers and office staff. We reviewed a range of records. This included six people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked 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.
Updated
16 May 2020
About the service
Atlas Care Services Ltd is a domiciliary care provider providing personal care to 100 people living in their own homes.
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
Following our previous inspection the provider took action to improve the quality of care to people. This included splitting the service into two separate branches. This branch provided care to people living in Spalding and the surrounding areas. Care for people living in the Bourne area is now provided under a separate registration.
At the last inspection we found while improvements had been made we needed to see if they would be sustained. At this inspection we found all the changes had been sustained and people told us that the care provided had improved since the previous inspection.
There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and people’s choice of care worker was respected. People’s calls were completed in a timely fashion. The provider had changed the way they scheduled people’s calls. Records showed and people told us they were able to build a relationship with staff as they saw a small consistent group of staff.
Action had been taken to reduce the number of complaints and we saw the provider had only received two complaints since our last inspection. People told us they knew how to complain but had not felt the need to do so.
There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided and to drive improvements in care. The provider had taken action to motivate staff to ensure they could meet people’s needs. The provider gathered the views of people using the service and staff to drive improvements in 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. People’s ability to communicate their choices was recorded along with any aids or support they needed.
People had received an assessment of their needs before using the service and care plans were in place to support staff to meet those needs safely. Staff training was completed and covered the safe management of medicines and safe infection control procedures.
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 13 February 2019)
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.