Archived: Absolute Care - Barrow

Updated 8 September 2020

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

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and two assistant inspectors.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority. The local authority advised that they had no current concerns about the provider but had suspended their routine compliance check due to the covid-19 pandemic. We did not request a 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 therefore gave the registered manager time to feedback anything they felt was important. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

On the first day we phoned nine people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We also phoned eight members of care staff. On the second day, we also spoke to two office staff and the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included six people's care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

Updated 8 September 2020

About the service

Absolute Care – Barrow is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people. At the time of the inspection they were providing personal care to 99 people. These people had a range of needs, some people were living with dementia. 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.

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

At the last inspection we found medicines were not managed safely. At this inspection this had improved and the provider was no longer in breach of regulation.

At the last inspection we found that care visits were not always punctual. People reported, and records showed us that this had improved. Staff were recruited safely to ensure they were of good character.

People felt safe using the service. Staff knew who to contact if they were concerned about abuse. Staff were confident that the management team would respond to their concerns but knew how to use whistleblowing procedures if needed.

People’s health and social care needs were clearly documented. This allowed clear guidance for staff to follow. Staff received training to ensure they knew how to meet people’s needs.

There was clear guidance in place for staff, and people reported that staff wore the correct personal protective equipment. This meant people were protected (as much as possible) from potential infection transmission.

The service was using a new electronic system in order to more safely manage the service. This was shown to be effective, as office staff were aware of any concerns quickly. The registered manager had a plan in place to continue to improve the use of this system and use more effective electronic auditing.

The registered manager understood the requirements of their role. Staff and the registered manager had a clear vision to provide good quality care.

At the last inspection we had some concerns about the timeliness of care visits, and the management of medicines. Both of these concerns have now been resolved. The registered manager also had a clear action plan to continue to improve these areas.

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 20 September 2019).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on previous inspection risks

At the last inspection we had concerns about the management of medicines and the timeliness of care calls. We identified a breach of regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment). We completed this inspection, to assess if required improvements had been made. We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other key questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those key questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.

The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

Enforcement and follow up

At the last inspection we identified a breach of Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We found sufficient improvements had been made at this inspection, so the service was no longer in breach of this regulation.

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.