AQS Homecare Hampshire

Updated 27 April 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in. One inspector carried out the inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 2 March and ended on 8 March 2018. It included visiting the office where the service was managed from, speaking to people via telephone to gain their views on the care provided and speaking with social workers with experience of working with the service. We visited the office location on 6 and 8 March 2018 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

Before the inspection we reviewed information we had about the service, including previous inspection reports and notifications the provider sent to us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with 12 people who used the service. We also spoke with the registered manager, the locality manager, who within the provider’s management structure was responsible for the day to day running of the service and four staff members. We looked at the care plans and associated records of three people. We reviewed other records, including the provider's policies and procedures, incident reports, staff training records, staff rotas and quality assurance questionnaires.

Updated 27 April 2018

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults. At the time of inspection, 48 people were using the service.

At our last inspection we rated the service good overall, but requires improvement in safe. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and the services had made improvements in the area of safe, which is now rated good. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

Risks to individuals were assessed and monitored. There were plans to minimise the risks to people associated with their health, wellbeing or care arrangements in the event of an emergency. Incidents were used as a way to promote staff learning and reduce the risk of incidents reoccurring.

There were systems to identify and protect people from abuse. Staff understood their responsibilities to safeguard people and there were systems in place to investigate concerns and complaints.

There were enough staff in place with the right skills mix to meet people’s needs. The provider had carefully considered how to grow the business sustainably by not taking on more care packages than it could cover. The provider made pre-employment recruitment checks, which helped them make informed recruitment decisions about the suitability of new staff.

Where people required support with their medicines, the appropriate level of staff input was clearly identified. Staff had received training and understood the steps needed to prevent the spread of infections.

The registered manager understood the key challenges to the service and consistently drove improvement to meet them. Where deficiencies were identified, action plans had been implemented which monitored how the required improvements were embedded. These plans were regularly monitored by senior management, which helped to ensure there was oversight from the provider.

People, social workers and health professionals helped to develop care plans. People were consulted about how they would like to receive their care. Staff understood how to put this guidance into practice to promote people’s choice and independence. People were asked for feedback and the service made changes in response to these suggestions.

Staff received training which was relevant to their role and ongoing support through supervision, which reviewed their working practices and behaviours. Staff were asked for their input in team meetings to discuss issues and agree ways to improve working practices.

People told us that staff were caring and compassionate. Staff respected people’s dignity and privacy.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice.

The support that people required around their nutrition and healthcare was identified in their care plans.

The registered manager had made links with other stakeholders to help ensure that people were supported appropriately when transferring between different environments such as hospital to home.

The registered manager understood the importance of working in partnership with other agencies when providing care at the end of people’s life.

Staff had received training and understood the steps needed to prevent the spread of infections.

Further information is in the detailed findings below