AMG Nursing and Care Services Lincoln Branch

Updated 13 June 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:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

AMG Nursing and Care Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

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 as we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in to support the inspection.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed information available to us about this service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse. We sought feedback from the local authority that worked with the service. The provider sent us a provider information return prior to the 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 planned this, inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection, we spoke with the manager and two staff. We spoke to two people who used the service and three relatives a health care professional and a social care professional. We looked at three people's care records, including their initial assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at medication administration records (MARs) where staff were responsible for administering medicines. We also looked at a selection of documentation about the management and running of the service. This included quality assurance information, audits, recruitment information for three staff, training records, policies and procedures, complaints and staff rotas.

Updated 13 June 2019

About the service:

AMG Nursing and Care Services is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 37 people.

People’s experience of using this service:

People and their relatives gave positive feedback about their experience of the service and the care they received. They told us they felt very safe with the staff. Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place and people were protected from avoidable harm and abuse by staff who could identify and report safeguarding concerns. People's medicines were administered as prescribed and this was closely monitored. Staff followed infection prevention and control practices. Staff understood people's needs and risks to their safety. Risk assessments guided staff on how to safely meet people's needs.

People were supported by consistent skilled and experienced staff to meet people’s needs. Staff received appropriate induction, training, and support and applied learning effectively in line with best practice. This led to good outcomes for people. Safe recruitment processes were in place and followed.

Staff understood the importance of providing person-centred care and developed positive supportive relationships with people. Staff encouraged people’s independence and supported them to have maximum choice and control of their lives. in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Staff were trained in mental capacity legislation and understood their responsibilities. They gained consent before providing care.

Care plans contained current and personalised information that supported staff to provide person-centred care. People were encouraged to maintain important relationships.

Staff worked closely with healthcare professionals and sought their advice, guidance and support to promote people’s wellbeing. People’s dietary needs were met. End of life care was provided with support from relevant health care professionals. Concerns and complaints raised were dealt with appropriately.

The manager was committed to providing a high-quality, person-centred service. They had an open and honest approach and was very supportive to staff. The registered manager used a range of checks and audits to assess and monitor the quality of service to ensure continuous improvement and learning. They listened to people's feedback and responded to issues and concerns to improve the service.

Rating at last inspection:

This is the first inspection of the service.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor this service and inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule or sooner if we receive information of concern.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.