Archived: Apollo Home Healthcare Limited - North Office

Updated 12 January 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

The inspection included a visit to the agency’s office on 27 November 2018. We gave the service short notice of the inspection visit because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be at the office.

Before the inspection we looked at all the information that we had about the service. This included information from members of the public and notifications received from the registered manager. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us.

The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector and one 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.

On 27 November 2018 we visited the agency’s branch office and spoke with the registered manager and the operations manager, the provider’s quality and compliance lead and a branch consultant. We also spoke with four members of care staff by telephone. When we visited the office, we reviewed a range of records about people's care and how the domiciliary care agency was managed. These included three people’s care records, medicine administration record (MARs), staff training, support and employment records, meeting records, quality assurance checks and audits and findings from questionnaires the registered provider had sent to people.

Due to the complex needs of the adults and children using the service it was not possible to communicate by telephone with everyone using the service. We spoke and small number of people who used the service and five people’s relatives regarding the care and support provided by the service. In the period after the inspection we spoke with three care staff by telephone. We also contacted three health and social care professionals to gain their views of the service.

Updated 12 January 2019

Apollo Home Healthcare Limited - North Office provides personal and nursing care to children and adults who live in their own homes with their families. Most people had complex care and health needs and receive an around the clock service. There were 8 people using the service when we inspected

The inspection took place on 27 November 2018. The registered provider was given short notice of the visit to make sure key staff was available to assist in the inspection.

The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

This was the first inspection of the service since it was registered in July 2017. We rated the service as Good.

Everyone said the care staff were kind, considerate, respected people and always maintained their dignity.

Most of the people we spoke with and their relatives said they were happy with the service. They said staff ensured their needs were met. By contrast a small number were not happy, as they felt they could not rely on the service. They told us Apollo struggled to replace staff, if they were unable to attend at short notice.

We found staff had good knowledge of how to spot the signs of abuse and of what action to take to protect people. Risks were well managed and people received their medicines safely. The recruitment process helped to minimise the risk of unsuitable staff being employed.

People were assisted to have good nutrition and had access to health care services where needed. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff told us they enjoyed working for the service and received good support and training.

People received individualised, person centred care that met their needs. People's privacy and confidentiality were maintained as records were held securely. People were confident to raise any concerns and complaints and most said things got sorted out. The management team were aware of any concerns people had and it was evident that a lot of work was put into resolving these.

The quality monitoring systems and the management structure ensured there was effective management, review and oversight. A system was in place for checking the quality of the service. People were consulted about the quality of the service and their views were used drive improvement. There was a commitment to continuous learning and improving the service and the service worked well in partnership with others to ensure people’s needs were met

Further information is in the detailed findings in the full version of the report.