Background to this inspection
Updated
6 July 2022
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was completed by an 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 care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was to ensure relevant staff were available to support the inspection.
Inspection activity started on 16 May 2022 and ended on 25 May 2022. We visited the location’s office on 16 May 2022.
What we did before the inspection
The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We sought feedback from the local authority. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
At the site visit we spoke with the registered manager, three staff and a health care professional. After the inspection we spoke with five people and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also spoke with the regional manager and a further three staff and received written feedback on the service from four health care professionals. We reviewed eight people’s care plans and records and five staff recruitment files. We also reviewed records relating to the management of the service, including policies, procedures and training data.
Updated
6 July 2022
About the service
Apex Prime Care Farnborough is a domiciliary care service providing personal care. The service provides support to younger and older adults who may have a sensory impairment, physical disability, mental health diagnosis or be living with dementia.
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
Overall most people and their relatives were generally happy with the service, however, some were not completely satisfied with all aspects of the service provided.
There was a lack of allocated travel time for staff between people’s individual care calls and some calls were shortened with the person’s agreement once their care was delivered. The potential risks to the rights of people living with dementia from this had not been identified.
People were involved in decisions about how to manage risks to them and measures to address identified risks were in place, which staff understood. However, staff were not always aware of people’s written additional risk assessments. There was not a robust system to record and review all safety related trends, although the registered manager was aware of them all and relevant actions had been taken for people’s safety. Safeguarding processes were in place and staff underwent relevant training. We identified one incident which whilst the person did not suffer harm should have been reported to the local authority. We identified two statutory notifications which had not been submitted as required. The registered manager took immediate and robust actions to address the issues we identified for people.
People received their medicines safely from appropriately trained and competent staff. The provider had in place effective infection control measures. Staff understood their responsibility to raise any concerns.
People’s needs had been assessed. Staff overall had the knowledge and skills required to deliver people’s care. The registered manager monitored staff’s learning needs and arranged additional training where required. People were supported by staff with eating and drinking where required. Staff worked both together as a team and across organisations to ensure people’s health needs were met and they received effective care and support.
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.
Staff treated people with kindness, respect and compassion when they provided their care. Staff supported people to express their views and to participate in decisions about their care. Staff ensured people’s privacy, dignity and independence were respected.
Staff provided people with personalised care which met their identified needs. People felt able to raise issues if required and relevant actions were taken to investigate them. Staff had not provided end of life care but the provider’s training and guidance was available as required.
People and their relatives felt overall the service was well-led. The registered manager had managed the service through a number of events during the past year and staff reported they had been well supported through the changes. The registered manager had processes in place to assess the quality of the service provided. They acted promptly in response to the feedback provided to strengthen aspects of their auditing processes. Professionals all provided positive feedback about the service and the outcomes they had achieved for people.
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 18 March 2021 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 25 May 2018.
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.