Archived: East Midlands Office - Apollo Home Healthcare Limited

Updated 16 February 2017

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.

This announced inspection took place on 11 January 2017. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and the registered manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service: we needed to be sure that they would be in. The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Before the inspection we looked at all of the information that we had about the service. This included information from notifications received by us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send to us by law.

During the inspection we visited the service’s office, spoke with five relatives of adults and children who used the service. We spoke with the registered manager, area manager, nominated individual [a person who represents the registered provider], an office based nurse and a branch consultant. We also spoke with four members of care staff by telephone. We spoke with four healthcare professionals who commissioned care from the service. We looked at four people’s care records and records in relation to the management of the service and the management of staff

Updated 16 February 2017

East Midlands Office - Apollo Home Healthcare Limited provides personal and nursing care to children and adult who live at home with their families. There were 13 people using the service when we visited.

There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff were knowledgeable and aware of their responsibilities about reporting any harm. There were sufficient numbers of staff to provide people with care safely and recruitment procedures ensured that only suitable staff were employed. Risk assessments were in place and actions were taken to reduce any identified risks. Arrangements were in place to ensure that people were supported with the safe management of their prescribed medicines.

Staff were supported and trained to do their job and attended additional training so that people with specific care needs were fully met. In addition, staff received training regarding the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). This legislation sets out how to proceed when people do not have mental capacity and what guidelines must be followed to ensure that people’s freedoms are not unlawfully restricted.

The staff were in contact with a wide range of health care professionals to ensure that people’s health care and support needs were met. Assessments were completed prior to the care package commencing to ensure that people’s care and support would be safely provided.

Relatives told us that their family member’s privacy and dignity was respected and that care and support was provided in a caring and a patient way.

A complaints procedure was in place and complaints had been responded to. Relatives and staff were involved in the development of the service, with arrangements in place to listen to what they had to say.

The provider had quality assurance processes and procedures in place to monitor the quality and safety of people’s care. Staff were able to make suggestions in relation to the support and care provided.