Ease Healthcare Wakefield

Updated 24 September 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.

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 because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received 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 used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as telephone calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and emails to staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation. Inspection activity started on 06 September 2022 and ended 09 September 2022. We spoke with eight staff, including the registered manager, one person who used the service and two relatives.

Updated 24 September 2022

About the service

Ease Healthcare Wakefield is a domiciliary care agency and provides personal care and support to people who require assistance in their own home. At the time of our inspection there were two people being supported by the service. 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

Systems and processes were in place to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and staff were aware of how to report concerns. Risks to people were assessed to keep them safe. Staff were recruited safely and people were provided with sufficient staff to meet their needs. Medicines were managed safely and staff were suitably trained to administer medicines.

Care records detailed people's preferences around their care and the service ensured people were happy with their care package prior to providing support. The service worked with other healthcare professionals to ensure people's needs were met. People and relatives felt listened to by the staff team and told us staff were kind.

Staff were complimentary about the management team and felt well supported in their roles. The registered manager understood their duties to be open and honest. Quality assurance systems and regular management meetings took place to ensure service improvement.

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.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

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 06 May 2021 and this is the first inspection.

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.