Elect Care Consultants Ltd

Updated 15 February 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection Team

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

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

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

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

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. The provider was given 17 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 11 January 2023 and ended on 31 January 2023. We visited the location’s office on 19 January 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included 3 people's care plans, risk assessments, recruitment records, quality audits, daily records and training records. We spoke with 2 staff and 1 relative who was available to speak with us We reviewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, staffing rotas, accident and incident records and safeguarding records.

Updated 15 February 2023

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

About the service

Elect Care Consultants is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The service is registered to support older people with dementia and learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder and Sensory Impairment. At the time of this inspection 3 people were using the service. 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

Right Support:

People were supported safely with their medicines. The service followed Infection prevention and control good practice guidance. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff assisted them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Staff supported people who used the service to be involved in maintaining their own health and wellbeing where possible. Staff communicated with the person in a way that met their needs.

Right Care:

Staff understood how to protect people from abuse. The service had appropriately skilled and trained staff to meet people's needs and keep them safe. People’s support was flexible and available when they required it. Care was delivered in a person-centred way and records reflected outcomes for people. People told us staff treated them with kindness and supported them to take part in their individually preferred activities. People were appropriately assessed before their support began. The service worked closely with external health care professionals to monitor the person's physical health needs when needed.

Right Culture:

The culture at the service was very positive. People, relatives and staff said they were listened to. The service was open to new ways of working and ongoing developments were introduced to promote independence and continuous improvement. Staff understood people’s support needs, which enabled the person to receive compassionate and empowering care that was tailored to their needs.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was Requires Improvement (published 27 August 2021). 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

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service. 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 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

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Elect Care Consultants Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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