Background to this inspection
Updated
17 April 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team:
¿ Our inspection was completed by two inspectors and an expert-by-experience. An expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Our expert by experience carried out telephone interviews with people who used the service.
Service and service type:
¿ Aims Homecare Leatherhead is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people in their homes. CQC regulates the care provided by the agency.
¿ 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 visit because the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
¿ We visited the office location on 28 February 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
¿ Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service. We also checked for feedback we received from members of the public, local authorities and commissioning groups. We checked records held by Companies House.
¿ We asked the service to complete a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
¿ We spoke with nine people who used the service and nine relatives.
¿ We spoke with the provider's and registered manager, the office manager, and four staff.
¿ We reviewed five people's care records, three staff personnel files, audits and other records about the management of the service.
¿ The provider sent us additional information after our inspection. This was received and the
information was used as part of our inspection.
Updated
17 April 2019
About the service: Aims Homecare Limited – Leatherhead is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults. At the time of our inspection 40 people were receiving support with personal care.
People’s experience of using this service:
¿ People were positive about improvements that had been made by the management since our previous inspection in July 2018. Although some people still experienced issues with late calls, the overall feedback from people was now much more positive about the care and support they received.
¿ The work to bring the service up to the providers high standards was ongoing at the time of our inspection, but we saw many examples of actions that had been completed or were in the process of being introduced. Time was now needed to embed these changes to demonstrate the full positive impact to people and that they are sustainable.
¿ People were supported to keep safe because risks to their health and safety were well managed. Staff understood their responsibilities around identifying and report any concerns, for example if they suspected abuse had taken place.
¿ People received their medicines when they needed them and records management around the administration of medicines had improved since our last inspection.
¿ People received a full and comprehensive needs assessment prior to joining the service. This ensure that staff had the skills and experience to meet those needs. Staff had training and supervision to keep them up to date on best practice and identify if they needed to make any improvements to how they supported people.
¿ Staff supported people in a kind and caring way. Feedback from people was positive about the interactions they had with staff.
¿ Peoples requirements under equality and diversity were met. The registered manager and staff said that anyone would be welcomed to the service no matter their age, gender, race, sexual orientation or religion. They would be supported by staff that understood and respected their preferences.
¿ Care records were person centred and gave clear guidance to staff so they knew people as individuals and their specific care and support needs. People told us they had been involved in the development and review of these care records.
¿ People were confident that when they made a complaint this was investigated fully by the management and improvements were made as a result.
¿ Were people were supported at the end of their lives, this was done in a compassionate way. Staff liaised with healthcare professionals to ensure peoples medical needs and personal preferences were met. Families gave positive feedback about the kindness of staff when they had been supported during this most difficult time.
¿ The registered manager and provider had a clear set of values for the service and ensured staff provided care in a way that matched those values. The values were based around keeping promises, putting people first, compassion, respecting each other and providing person centred care. People told us they felt they received care in line with these values.
¿ People told us they felt the service was well managed. One person said, “Very well managed indeed, I have worked in care myself and we had other agencies before AIMS and they should all be like this.”
Rating at last inspection: At our last inspection the service was rated Requires Improvement. The report was published 13 September 2018.
Why we inspected: This inspection was part of our scheduled plan based on the previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive care and support that meets the requirements of the health and social care regulations. Further inspections will be planned for future dates.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk