Eternal Care UK Limited

Updated 30 June 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

This inspection was completed by two inspectors and two Experts by Experience. The Experts by Experience made telephone calls to people and their relatives to obtain feedback about their experience of the care provided. 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.

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 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 25 May 2021 and ended on 03 June 2021. We visited the office location on 27 May 2020.

What we did before the inspection

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must tell us about, such as any safeguarding alerts that had been raised. 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 this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people and 15 relatives of people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff, including the deputy manager, the registered manager and the provider. We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records and medication records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at care records, medicines management and quality assurance records.

Updated 30 June 2021

About the service

Eternal Care UK Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is to 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 55 people were receiving personal care.

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

People and their relatives told us people were safe and that staff treated people well. The registered manager completed risk assessments for each person using the service. Staff administered people’s medicines safely and protected people from the risk of infection. People were supported by effectively deployed staff and the registered manager monitored visits. The provider carried out comprehensive background checks of staff before they started work. The provider had a system in place to manage accidents and incidents.

People’s care plans reflected their current needs. Staff showed an understanding of equality and diversity. Staff respected people’s choices and preferences. People knew how to make a complaint. The registered manager knew what to do if someone required end-of life care.

Systems and processes to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service were in place. There was a clear management structure in place and staff were aware of the roles of the management team.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 25 December 2019) 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 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, responsive 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 Eternal Care UK Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.