Prestige Homecare Services

Updated 18 May 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

The inspection was conducted by 1 inspector and 1 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.

Service and service type

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

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

We gave the service 24 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 April and ended on 26 April 2023. We visited the location’s office/service on 18 April 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service and 9 relatives. We spoke with 3 care staff and 2 professionals who have worked with the service recently. During our inspection visit we spoke with the registered manager, a care coordinator, an administrator, a care quality consultant working for the provider and the nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider. We looked at a range of care records, including 4 people's care and risk management plans, 3 staff recruitment files, and a variety of records relating to medicines support and the management of the service.

Updated 18 May 2023

About the service

Prestige Homecare Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes in the London Boroughs of Ealing and Harrow. At the time of the inspection the agency was supporting 44 people. 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

The service met people's care and support needs. People and their relatives spoke positively of their care service and how it was managed. The provider developed and reviewed care and risk management plans with people and their relatives. Staff supported people to receive their medicines as prescribed and medicines were managed safely.

People were usually visited by the same staff who they were familiar with and who knew their needs and how they liked to be supported. The provider's recruitment processes helped to make sure they only employed suitable staff.

Staff received regular training, supervision and competency checks so they could support people appropriately. They felt supported in their roles by the registered manager and office staff.

The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and make improvements when required. They asked people and staff to give feedback about the service. People and their relatives knew how to raise any issues and found staff approachable and responsive. The service worked in partnership with other services to provide people with joined up care.

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 overall (published 19 April 2022), although we found improvements were required in ensuring people were supported safely. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.

Why we inspected

We carried out an unannounced focused inspection on 18 March 2022 and found improvements were required. This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service and we undertook this focused inspection to confirm improvements had been made. This report only covers our findings in relation to the key questions Safe and Well-led. 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 remained 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 Prestige Homecare Services 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.