AQS Homecare Sussex

AQS Homecare Sussex is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to 50 people living in their own houses and flats in the Eastbourne area. Care and support was provided to people living with mental health needs, substance misuse, dementia and physical disabilities.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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:

People received a responsive service which was tailored to meet their needs. Staff delivered person-centred care which enhanced people’s quality of life. Healthcare professionals praised the service’s responsive nature and spoke highly of how staff empowered people to remain living at home. There was a flexible approach towards people's changing needs and preferences. Staff recognised the importance of combatting social isolation alongside supporting some people to care for their pets who provided companionship and company.

The service was well-led. Robust systems to monitor and assess the service provided helped the registered manager to identify where improvements were needed, and these were addressed quickly. People were asked for their views about the service and these demonstrated a high level of satisfaction relating to the service they received. Staff were extremely passionate about providing high quality care to people.

People and relatives told us how the care workers and other staff working in the service were caring and respectful. People were provided with a caring and compassionate service. People's rights to independence, privacy and dignity were promoted and respected. People's choices about the service were valued and used to plan their care.

Risks to people were assessed and mitigated. Support was provided to enable people to live safely in the community. Where people required assistance with their medicines, there were systems to provide this service safely. People's care visits were completed as planned. Recruitment of care workers was done safely. Care workers were trained in infection control and the appropriate equipment was provided to reduce risks of cross infection. There were systems to learn from incidents and use the learning to drive 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. Where people required support with their dietary needs, this was provided. Where required, people were supported to maintain good health. The service worked well with other professionals involved in people's care.

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

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 29 March 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

AQS Homecare Sussex is a domiciliary care agency registered to provide personal care to people in their own homes. The service is located in Eastbourne and provides services to people in the surrounding areas. At the time of the inspection visit there were 58 people receiving support with their personal care needs from the service.

The service had a registered manager who was registered with the CQC in October 2010. 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.

Complex personal care procedures were not being carried out in line with guidance issued by the Royal College of Nursing. This was because health professionals were not involved with the management of these procedures. Following the inspection we contacted the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) so that they could support with this.

Competency checks were not always being carried out to ensure that staff were following the correct process and procedures, in relation to supporting people with complex personal care needs. The registered manager confirmed that competency checks would be completed and recorded in the future.

We have made a recommendation to the registered provider in relation to supporting people with managing complex personal care needs.

Audit systems were carried out by the registered manager which ensured the quality of the service being provided to people. These looked at areas such as staff conduct, medication and complaints. The registered provider also completed quality monitoring checks, however records were not always clear around what aspects of the service the provider had looked at, and what the outcome of these visits had been. This meant that the registered provider did not have a clear audit trail in relation to their quality monitoring processes.

Staff had completed training areas necessary for their role. This included moving and handling, infection control and health and safety. They had also received training in specific areas to enable them to support people with their needs. This helped to ensure that staff had the skills they needed.

People told us they 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 had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and were aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to this.

People were protected from the risk of abuse. Staff had completed training in safeguarding vulnerable adults and the registered provider had an up-to-date policy and procedure in place around this. Staff were aware of their role and responsibilities in relation to reporting abuse.

A record of accidents and incidents was maintained by the registered manager. These showed that action was taken in a timely manner to prevent incidents from reoccurring.

There were sufficient numbers of staff in place to safely meet people’s needs. People commented that staff generally arrived on time and that they stayed for the time they were supposed to. People also commented that staff completed those tasks required of them.

People commented that staff were kind and caring and that they were supported to maintain their dignity. People told us that they received support from regular staff which had enabled the development of positive relationships.

Information was available to staff around what how they should work to support people. People each had a personalised care record in place which contained details around the supported and care they needed.

There was a complaints procedure in place which people told us they would feel confident using. Complaints records showed that action had been taken in a timely manner to address and investigate concerns that had been raised.

People told us that staff were,'So caring. Marvellous' and 'They are always polite and happy.' People we spoke with were aware of their care packages and felt they were receiving exactly the support they required.

We spoke with staff and looked at the provider's safeguarding policy. We found that staff were appropriately trained and knew what to do if they suspected any abuse.

We looked at the provider's complaints policy and records and found that complaints were dealt with in an open and effective manner.

We looked at a variety of records available within the office and found that records were current and comprehensive.

In this report it records that the regulated activities that this location is registered to provide are 'Personal care' and 'Treatment of disease, disorder or injury'. This location was not currently providing services under the regulated activity ''Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. ''

People told us that they received the care and support they required to meet their needs. They said that they were aware of what care was to be provided, when and by whom. We were told that staff were 'kind and competent'.

We reviewed the recruitment practice and found the practice followed was thorough, although some records were not retained in the office.

We looked at the systems and processes the agency had in place to respond to complaints and to protect people from abuse. These processes ensured complaints could be raised and that they were investigated. Staff knew what constituted abuse and what to do if it was suspected.

We looked at a variety of records available within the office. We found that records were not always up to date or completed well, some records required were not available.

In this report it records that the regulated activities that this location is registered to provide is 'Personal care' and 'Treatment of disease, disorder or injury'. This location is not currently providing services under the regulated activity ''Treatment of disease, disorder or injury ''