Elegance Care and Support

Updated 26 July 2022

The inspection

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 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.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal 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 the inspection. This was to make arrangements to carry out a virtual inspection and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 29 April 2022 and ended on 30 May 2022. We contacted people and relatives on 3 and 5 May 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed the information we held about the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). 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 sought feedback from the local authority contracts monitoring and safeguarding adults' teams and reviewed the information they provided. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three people who used the service and 10 relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with the regional manager and the registered manager. We also received feedback from six care staff.

We reviewed a range of records including two people’s care records and medicines records. We looked at recruitment records for two members of staff. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video/telephone calls and emails to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Following the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed all evidence sent to us electronically by the provider.

Updated 26 July 2022

About the service

Elegance Care and Support is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to 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. At the time of inspection 52 people were receiving personal care.

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

People and relatives spoke positively about the service and felt it was safe and staff were caring. Comments from people and relatives included, “[Care staff] are always jolly and chatty which is good for me and my [partner]. We don’t see many people, so we appreciate their company” and, “The company is well managed. [Registered manager] is excellent. I can ring at any time to ask anything and they are always so responsive to [family member]’s needs. Nothing is too much trouble. I would definitely recommend this company.”

Staff safeguarded people from abuse. There were systems in place to keep people safe. Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were managed. There were enough staff to meet people’s needs and safe recruitment processes were followed. Medicines were safely administered and managed. The provider learned from previous accidents and incidents to reduce future risks to people. The provider and staff protected people from the risk or spread of infection and followed government guidance in relation to COVID-19.

People’s needs were assessed before they received support. Staff received regular training and were supported through regular supervisions, spot checks and yearly appraisals. Staff supported people with their nutritional needs and to access a range of health care professionals. 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 were kind and compassionate and supported people in a respectful, dignified manner. Staff encouraged people to maintain their independence where safe and possible to do so and had advocates in place, where required. Staff spoke highly of people and were passionate about their roles. One staff member said, “I love seeing people smile and helping them be comfortable, safe and cared for, it is a very rewarding job.”

People received person-centred care. Care plans detailed how people wanted to be supported by staff with different tasks. The provider had a complaints procedure in place. People and relatives knew how to raise any concerns and felt confident in doing so.

People and relatives were very happy with the service and felt it was well-managed. The registered manager promoted an open and honest culture and was approachable. The provider had an effective quality assurance process in place which included regular audits. People and relatives were regularly consulted about the quality of the service through surveys and reviews. Staff were involved in the ongoing development and improvement of the service through surveys and regular communication.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 15 February 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to formally rate the service.

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.