Advanced Care Yorkshire Limited

Updated 29 October 2022

The inspection

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

The service is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was to make arrangements to carry out a virtual inspection and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 14 September and ended on 18 October 2022. We contacted people and relatives on 3 October 2022.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we held about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority, professionals who work with the service and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with three members of staff, including the registered manager, the care coordinator and the co-ordinator support administrator. We also obtained feedback via a private questionnaire sent to staff members and we received 17 replies.

We reviewed a range of records including five people's care and medicines records. We looked at recruitment records for two members of staff. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were also reviewed.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location's office. We used technology such as video/telephone calls and emails to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Following the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed all evidence sent to us electronically by the provider.

Updated 29 October 2022

About the service

Advanced Care Yorkshire is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 48 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and relatives were happy with the support they received and spoke positively about staff. Some people told us calls were sometimes late. We raised this with the provider who acknowledged this feedback and told us they were working towards recruiting more staff to alleviate shortages.

Risks to people’s health, safety and well-being were effectively managed. Medicines were administered safely. The provider had effective infection prevention and control systems in place.

Effective recruitment procedures were in place. Staff received training and support to provide care in a person-centred way.

Support was personalised and based on people's assessed needs and preferences. Staff worked effectively with external professionals to ensure people received the support they wanted and needed. 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.

People and their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care. Staff respected people’s privacy and dignity and promoted their independence. People and relatives were aware of the provider’s complaints procedure and knew how to raise concerns.

Systems were in place to monitor and develop standards at the service. The provider promoted continuous learning and improvement and listened to staff, people and partners, taking on board their views.

This was an 'inspection using remote technology'. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.

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 requires improvement (published 5 March 2020) and there were breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 7 January 2020. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve in relation to Regulations 17 and 18 (Good Governance and Staffing).

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe, Effective, Responsive and Well-led which contain those requirements. For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.