Acerta24

Acerta24 is a domiciliary care agency that was providing personal care to two people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service:

People were satisfied at the time of the inspection with the support they received from Acerta24. The provider made sure, wherever possible, people received support from the same staff. People told us they felt safe with staff. They said staff were kind, able to meet their needs and supported them in a dignified, respectful way which maintained their privacy. Staff supported people to be independent by encouraging them to safely do as much for themselves as they could.

People were involved in planning their care and support. The provider listened to people and took their views, choices and decisions into account when planning and delivering the care and support they needed. The provider made sure there was current and relevant information for staff about how these needs should be met. People’s care and support was reviewed with them by the provider to make sure this was continuing to meet their needs.

Staff sought people’s consent before providing any support. People 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.

There were enough staff to support people. The provider undertook checks on staff before they started work to make sure they were suitable. Once in post, staff received relevant training to help them meet people’s needs. They were supported in their role by senior staff to continuously improve their working practices.

The provider had systems in place to protect people from injury or harm. All staff were trained to safeguard people at risk and to report abuse and/or discriminatory practices or behaviours that might cause people harm. Risks to people had been assessed and staff were provided guidance on how these should be minimised to keep people safe. The provider had systems in place to record and investigate any accidents and incidents that occurred, which included keeping people informed and involved in case they were harmed as a result of their care. Staff followed good practice to ensure risks were minimised from poor hygiene and cleanliness when providing personal care and when preparing and handling food

Staff documented the support provided to people which kept others involved in people’s care up to date and informed. They monitored people’s health and wellbeing. When staff had concerns about this they reported these to the relevant healthcare professionals. Staff worked closely with other healthcare professionals to ensure a joined-up approach to the support people received.

People knew how to make a complaint if needed and the provider had arrangements in place to deal with this. People spoke positively about senior staff and described them as accessible and supportive. The provider had aims and standards for the service and told people what they should expect from staff and the service in respect of the quality of care they received. There was a clear management and staffing structure in place and all staff had clearly defined duties and responsibilities. The registered manager understood their legal responsibilities regarding the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

The provider sought people’s views about the quality of care and support provided and how this could be improved. They used this information along with other checks of the service to monitor and review the quality and safety of the support provided. Any shortfalls or gaps identified through these checks were addressed promptly.

The provider worked in partnership with other agencies to develop and improve the delivery of care to people. They worked with the authorities funding people’s care, so they were kept up to date and well informed about people’s care and support needs.

The service meets the characteristics of a good service and therefore we have rated them ‘Good’ overall and for all five key questions, ‘Is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?’

Rating at last inspection:

Although the service has been registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) since September 2014, the provider did not start continuously operating the domiciliary care element of the service until October 2018. This is the first comprehensive inspection of the service since registration.

Why we inspected:

We normally inspect new services within 12 months of them registering with CQC. However, Acerta24 were not consistently providing personal care to people during that period so we could not inspect the service. We continued to monitor and review the status of the service and once we received confirmation from the provider that they were now providing personal care to people, we scheduled a comprehensive inspection to check the safety and quality of care people received.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Further inspections will be planned in line with our inspection schedule or in response to concerns.