Background to this inspection
Updated
16 July 2021
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 completed by two 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. We also needed consent from people using the service to receive a telephone call to give their feedback about the agency.
Inspection activity started on 15th June 2021 and ended on 18th June 2021. We visited the office location on 15th June 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with six people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, the client supervisor and three care staff.
We viewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records and medicine 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 quality assurance records, records relating to the management of the service and policies and procedures.
Updated
16 July 2021
About the service
Everycare West Kent is a domiciliary agency providing care and support to older people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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. At the time of the inspection they were providing personal care to 31 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People spoke highly of the care and support they received from staff. Comments included, “They [staff] are all lovely, I enjoy it when they come” and “They [staff] are brilliant. They understand what I am like and we get on brilliantly.”
People were provided with consistent support from staff the knew them well. Staff followed guidance to reduce potential risks posed to people, to keep them safe. Staff were recruited safely, and systems were in place for the event of a member of staff running late.
Medicines were managed safety and people received their medicines as prescribed. Staff followed people’s individual care plans which outlined any support they required to manage their medicines. Medicine records were audited monthly by a member of the management team.
People felt safe with staff and were protected from the potential risk of harm and abuse. Staff had been trained and understood the action to take if they had suspicions. Staff were happy in their role and felt there was an open and inclusive culture, where they were asked for their views and opinions.
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 supported this practice.
Systems were in place to monitor the quality of the service people received. People were asked for their views and changes were implemented promptly to improve the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection and update
The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 10 January 2020) and there were multiple breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.
Why we inspected
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 24 and 27 November 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve Regulation 12 (Safe Care and Treatment) and Regulation 17 (Good Governance).
We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions Safe and Well-led which contain those requirements.
The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion 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.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Everycare West Kent on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.