Agincare UK Worthing

People’s experience of using this service:

People and their relatives told us they received a good quality, safe and effective service. People summarised their experience in comments such as “Wonderful” and “Caring”. People said they would recommend this service to others.

People’s needs were met by kind and caring staff and care plans described the person-centred care people required to meet their needs.

People and their relatives spoke highly of the leadership of the service and described this as “very good”. Staff told us they were supported in their role and acted in line with the provider ethos to deliver a supportive, person centred approach which placed meeting people’s needs at the heart of the service.

Rating at last inspection: The last inspection took place on 1 September 2016 and was rated Good. At this inspection the overall rating remained Good.

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and plan our next inspection in line with our methodology unless we receive any information of concern in which case we may bring this inspection forward.

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

Agincare UK Worthing is a domiciliary care service which provides personal care to people in their own homes. The registered office is in Worthing however the service provides personal care across West Sussex including Littlehampton, Southwick, Shoreham and Worthing. At the time of our visit the service was supporting 75 older people with personal care. People had various needs, including dementia, sensory impairments and/or a physical disability.

There was a registered manager in post who was present throughout the inspection. They were registered with the Care Quality Commission in December 2013. 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.

People told us Agincare UK Worthng provided a safe service. Staff were able to speak about what action they would take if they had a concern or felt a person was at risk of abuse. Risks to people had been identified and assessed and information was provided to staff on how to care for people safely and mitigate any risks. The service followed safe recruitment practices and medicines were managed safely.

Staff felt confident with the support and guidance they had been given during their induction and subsequent training. Supervisions, appraisals and competency assessments were consistently carried out for all staff supporting people.

People’s consent to care and treatment was considered. Staff understood the requirements under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and about people’s capacity to make decisions. Some people received support with food and drink and they made positive comments about staff and the way they met this need.

Staff spoke kindly and respectfully to people as well as involving them with the care provided. Staff had developed meaningful relationships with people they supported. Staff knew people well and had a caring approach. People were treated with dignity and respect.

Changes in people’s health care needs and their support was reviewed when required. If people required input from other healthcare professionals, this was arranged.

People received personalised care. People’s care had been planned and individual care plans were in place. They contained information about people’s lives, including their personal histories. They provided clear guidance to staff on how to meet people’s individual needs. People and their relatives were involved in reviewing care plans with the management team.

A range of quality audit processes were in place to measure the overall quality of the service provided to people. Both people and relatives views about the quality of the service were obtained informally through discussions with the registered manager, annual care reviews and through questionnaires.

People told us that they knew who to go to make a complaint and how they would do so if and when they required.

During the inspection we found the registered manager adopted a ‘hands-on ‘approach and was open to feedback. The registered manager and staff were enthusiastic about providing a high standard of care to people.

People we spoke with said they were involved in making decisions and choices about their care, were listened to and treated with respect. One person told us "Although I need a lot of care I feel normal because all the staff are very kind and friendly and treat me with respect".

We spoke with people about the support they received and everyone said they were happy with the service. Comments included "they are brilliant" and "I am very happy with the service. I like their friendly approach and feel safe". We looked at the care plans and found them to be detailed and centred on the person's wishes and needs.

We saw that the medication system was robust and found that people were supported to receive their medicines safely and as prescribed.

The recruitment and selection process in place ensured that all staff had appropriate pre-employment checks before starting work and undertook the relevant training.

The service had a range of quality assurance systems in place to assess and monitor the service provided and also carried out regular surveys with people who used the service, staff and other stakeholders to gather their views and then take action when required.