Archived: Everycare

People’s experience of using this service:

Without exception people and relatives told us they were supported by staff that were kind and caring and went over and above to meet their needs and preferences. A person told us, “1st class in every aspect I can't think of anything I can find fault with.”

People told us they knew who would visit them and when and they told us they were supported by a consistent group of staff who knew them and their needs well.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff enabled people to maintain their independence as much as possible. Staff also supported people to regain their independence if this had been lost as the result of a specific event, such as through illness or a hospital stay.

Staff were skilled and knowledgeable. They had received training that equipped them to fulfil their role and there were opportunities for additional training specific to the needs of people using the service. A person told us, “My carers are very efficient, all of them, I can't fault them they look after me very well.”

People were provided with care and support that was centred on their needs, wishes and preferences. Care plans described people's needs and preferences and staff were aware of people's personal history, interests and relationships that were important to them. People and their relatives were consulted about decisions and were involved in planning their care. People were encouraged to give feedback about how the service was run. The service demonstrated good management and leadership and staff told us they felt supported.

People received safe care and treatment. Risks to people’s health and safety were assessed and managed. People's health needs were monitored well, and staff were responsive in seeking treatment. People's medicines were managed safely by trained staff.

Safe recruitment practices continued to check that suitable staff were safe to work in a social care setting. Staff told us they were not rushed to complete calls and had time to spend with people. Staff were prompt in arriving at people's homes at the arranged time.

Staff supported people to have ready access to food and drink. Relatives told us that staff had supported their relatives to achieve good outcomes with eating and drinking. Relatives told us staff supported people to eat well and to maintain a healthy weight.

This service met the characteristics of Good. More information is in the ‘Detailed Findings’ below.

Rating at the last inspection: Good. The last inspection report was published on 13 June 2017. The last inspection was focussed on one key question, Well-led and rated that key question Requires Improvement however the overall rating remained as Good. The previous inspection was rated Good on 8 November 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a planned comprehensive inspection that was scheduled to take place in line with Care Quality Commission (CQC) scheduling guidelines for adult social care services.

Follow up: We will review the service in line with our methodology for 'Good' services.

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

We undertook this focused inspection on 27 March 2017 to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. We found improvements had been made and the provider was now meeting all legal requirements. However, these improvements were not, as yet, fully embedded in practice and need further time to be fully established in to everyday care delivery.

This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Everycare on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Everycare provides support for people who require a range of personal and care support related to personal hygiene, mobility, nutrition and continence. Some people were living with early stages of a dementia type illness or other long-term health related condition. Most people lived reasonably independent lives but required support to maintain this independence.

Everycare also provides 'live-in' support for people who have more complex needs such as frailty associated with old age or long-term health conditions.

There is a registered manager at the service. 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.

Care plans were personalised and contained the information required for staff to support people. However, further work was still required to ensure all information about how people made decisions and risks associated with their care and support were recorded.

Staff knew people well and had a good understanding of their needs. There was an open and positive culture which focussed on providing high quality support for people.

Full details of our findings can be found in the main body of the report under well-led.

Everycare provides support for people who require a range of personal and care support related to personal hygiene, mobility, nutrition and continence. Some people were living with early stages of a dementia type illness or other long-term health related condition. Most people lived reasonably independent lives but required support to maintain this independence. Everycare also provides ‘live-in’ support for people who have more complex needs such as frailty associated with old age or long-term health conditions.

There is a registered manager at the service. 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.

Although staff had a good understanding of the risks associated with supporting people we found risk assessments were not in place to reflect all the identified risks. Care plans were personalised and reflected people’s individual needs however some did not contain all the information staff needed to provide care or evidence the care and support people received.

People’s care was personalised to reflect their wishes and what was important to them. People were supported by staff who knew them well and understood their needs and preferences. People were visited at times that suited them. People were introduced to staff before they provided them with care and they were looked after by a team of regular staff who knew them well.

People and their relatives spoke positively about the care, support and service they received from Everycare. They told us they received, “Superb care,” they said, “Care has been excellent.” They spoke highly of the care staff and comments included, “Some of the carers are absolutely outstanding” and “I can only speak very highly of them”

People received the medicines they had been prescribed, when they needed them. The systems in place meant medicines were well managed.

There were enough staff who had been safely recruited to meet the needs of people who used the service. Staff had a good understanding of the procedures to follow to safeguard people from the risk of abuse. Staff were aware of their individual responsibilities.

There was an induction programme in place and staff received the training and support they required to meet people’s needs. Staff were trained in the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and were knowledgeable about the requirements of the legislation. Best interest meetings had taken place when people lacked capacity to make their own decisions.

Where required staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink and maintain a healthy diet. Staff knew people well and recognised when they may need to be referred to an appropriate healthcare professional for example the GP or district nurse.

People were regularly asked for their feedback about the service and support they received and were aware how to make a complaint. There was an open and positive culture at the service. The staff told us they felt supported and listened to by the registered manager. People were put at the heart of the service and staff were focussed on providing high quality care.

We found a breach of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of this report.

We examined people's care plans and saw that their needs were assessed and care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with their individual care plan. One person told us, 'All the carers are first rate.'

People who use the service were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening.

We examined staff files and found that appropriate checks were undertaken before staff began work.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive. People told us, 'I have no complaints whatsoever.'

We saw that people experienced safe and effective care based on detailed care plans and risk assessments that met individual needs.

People using the service were protected from abuse as they were supported by a staff team who had appropriate knowledge and training on safeguarding adults. People told us if they had any concerns they would report them to the manager of senior person on duty.

Staff received ongoing training and supervision which provided them with the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the people they were supporting.

The Provider had effective systems in place to monitor and assess the quality of the service.