Onecall24 Healthcare Limited

Updated 4 May 2022

Inspection team

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector 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 and nursing care to people living in their own homes.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of this inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

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 annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We reviewed information we held about the service, including notifications of serious events the provider is required to tell us about.

We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We carried out this inspection between 29 March and 8 April 2022. This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.

We made calls to two people who used the service and nine family members. We spoke with the registered manager, the Head of Clinical Excellence, two nurse managers and five healthcare assistants.

We reviewed records of care, support and medicines management for five people who used the service. We looked at records of recruitment, supervision and training for seven members and information relating to the management of the service, including policies, staff communications and audits. We contacted three commissioners of care services and received feedback from two of these.

Updated 4 May 2022

About the service

Onecall24 Healthcare Limited is a care at home service. It provides personal and nursing care to adults and children with complex health needs who live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 14 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People using the service and their families reported being listened to and closely involved in the planning and delivery of their care. People were involved in the recruitment of staff teams and reported being able to choose who worked with them and when. People told us their staff teams were well trained and well supervised with close involvement and quality assurance from manager. A person told us “They put us at the centre of it all, what works best for us.”

The service had well developed systems to keep people safe. Risks to people were assessed in detail with clear processes which were followed to manage and mitigate risk. There were extensive contingency plans for how to respond to changes in people’s needs and to medical emergencies, with people encouraged wherever possible to make informed choices about how to manage risk whilst respecting their preferences for their care. Staff were safely recruited specifically based around the skills and experience required to support each person. Medicines were safely managed with robust systems of recording and audit to ensure people received their medicines at the right time. There were suitable infection control processes

People had well developed care plans which were reviewed regularly as their needs and wishes changes. These were developed with people and people were supported to make choices about their care. Staff engaged people with activities of their choice and people praised the caring approach of staff.

Managers had implemented robust systems to ensure the safe and appropriate delivery of care. Senior staff carried out regular audits and engaged with people and their families to ensure a good standard of care and to address concerns promptly. The service worked closely and jointly with local health teams to deliver good care and ensure that staff had the right specialist training to meet people’s complex health needs and operate equipment safely. Staff praised support and the positive culture of the service with induction and ongoing mentoring of staff to develop their skills and approach.

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.

For more information, please read the detailed findings section of this report. If you are reading this as a separate summary, the full report can be found on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

This was the first inspection for this location since the service registered in December 2020.

Why we inspected

This was a first ratings inspection for this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This was an ‘inspection using remote technology’. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.