Elite Care

Updated 3 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 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.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission who was also the provider. This means that they 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, who was also the registered manager, would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 2 July 2019 and ended on 4 July 2019. We visited the office location on 2 and 3 July 2019.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. 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 four people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the provider, two care managers, and five members of care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records in detail and we looked at parts of a further seven people’s care records and three people’s medication records. We looked at three 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.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality monitoring surveys.

Updated 3 September 2019

About the service

Elite Care is a care agency and provides personal care to younger and older adults, some of whom may be living with dementia in their own homes. At the time of inspection, 66 people were using the service.

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

There was a lack of auditing in place to monitor and asses the quality of service being delivered. People’s care records, staff training, and staff files were not routinely checked. Risk assessments and some areas of people’s care plans lacked personal details.

We made a recommendation about implementing comprehensive quality monitoring systems.

We found parts of people’s care plans contained detailed and person-centred information.

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 did not always support this practice but the conversations we had with people who used the service and staff assured us people were being cared for in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

We were assured that staff knew people’s individual care needs well and any concerns we had were with the lack of information in people’s care records. People and relatives also told us staff cared for people in a way which met their needs.

People were supported to maintain a healthy nutritional intake. Staff worked alongside other healthcare professionals to ensure people received consistent care and supported people to access other agencies where there were changes in their care needs.

People’s medicines were managed in a safe way by staff who had been trained to administer medicines.

Staff understood their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns.

There were safe practices in place in relation to staff recruitment and there were consistently enough staff to meet people’s needs.

People were cared for by staff who were kind and took time to listen to people. People and their relatives were involved in the planning of their care and people’s independence was promoted.

The provider asked people and their relatives for their views about the service they received, and the provider took action in response to the feedback. People and their relatives felt able to contact the service at any time to raise a concern and felt any issues were dealt with appropriately.

People were happy with the service they received and were kept updated about any changes to the service.

Staff enjoyed their work and attended regular meetings. Staff felt supported in their work and received training relevant to their role and received regular supervision.

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 10 November 2016).

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.