Apollo Care (West Wirral)

Updated 21 September 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 4 September 2019 when we visited the office. We contacted staff and people using the service by phone on 5 September 2019 and visited people in their homes on 6 September 2019.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and safeguarding team. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff as well as the registered manager and franchise support manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and multiple medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 21 September 2019

About the service

Apollo Care (West Wirral) is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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 38 people.

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

People told us they received care that helped them to feel safe in their homes. There were sufficient numbers of staff employed and they had been recruited safely. People knew the staff who supported them. Staff were aware of safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures and knew how to raise any concerns they had. Risk to people had been assessed and measures were in place to reduce any identified risks. When people required support with medicines, this was completed safely.

Systems were in place to gain people’s consent to their care, but the recording of this information could be improved. We made a recommendation regarding this in the main body of the report. 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. Staff were supported through regular training, supervisions and spot checks and told us they felt very well supported in their roles. People’s needs were assessed prior to support commencing and staff worked with health professionals to help ensure people’s needs were met.

Staff were kind, caring and treated people with respect. Staff knew the people they supported well, including their needs, preferences and best method of communication. People told us staff protected their dignity and provided support in ways which promoted their independence. People were provided with information and supported to make decisions about their care.

People told us they received flexible care that met their individual needs and was based on their preferences and how they wanted to be supported. Detailed and personalised plans of care were in place that were reflective of people’s needs. People knew how to raise any concerns they had and were confident they would be listened to.

People’s feedback regarding the quality of service they received was very positive. Staff told us they enjoyed their roles and would recommend the company to others. Systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service and these had been built upon since the last inspection. The service was implementing new initiatives to continually improve the service.

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 14 January 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.