We carried out a review of the data available to us about Ave Maria Care Services (Burntwood) on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Ave Maria Care Services (Burntwood), you can give feedback on this service.
Ave Maria Care Services is a Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA) providing personal care to younger and older adults, with a varying level of personal care needs. Staff provided care to people within their own homes. The nominated individual stated that they ran Ave Maria Care Services Burntwood and Ave Maria Care Services Tamworth out of this location. At the time of inspection, the service was supporting 47 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
People's care files did contain guidance in risk assessments that was person centred to mitigate risks.
We made a recommendation on personalised guidance to manage people’s known risks.
Care files did not evidence what people’s end of life preferences would be.
We made a recommendation regarding people’s end of life wishes.
The registered manager completed a range of quality audits.
The provider had an effective system to ensure staff received appropriate training. People and relatives agreed that staff members training was appropriate to meet their needs.
Staff received office supervision throughout the year in the office and community.
Medicines were handled safely by the service.
People’s care needs, and choices were documented in care files. They detailed the support required from staff at each visit. People and relatives spoke positively about the care and support they received from Ave Maria Care Services.
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.
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 requires improvement (25 December 2018).
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
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
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.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.
Ave Maria (Burntwood) 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 and those living with dementia, younger disabled adults and those living with a physical disability. At the time of the inspection 28 people were using the service.
There was not a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection. They had recently left the service. A new manager had been recruited and was waiting for a start date. A Registered Manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The provider had systems in place to check on the quality of the service people received, however these were not consistently effective. These issues meant the provider was not meeting the regulations and you can see what action we asked the provider to take at the end of this report.
People were not always supported to have their needs met at the time of their choosing which meant people were left without the support they needed. People’s medicines were administered safely, however not always at the time prescribed.
Risks to people were assessed and planned for to keep people safe. People were supported by safely recruited staff. People were protected from the risk of cross infection. People were safeguarded from abuse. The provider learned when things went wrong.
People had their needs assessed and plan were in place to meet them. Staff were supported in their role and had access to an induction program and ongoing training. People had support which was consistent. People could choose their meals and were supported to eat and drink. People were supported to maintain their health and well-being.
People had choice and control of their lives and staff were aware of how to support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service were supportive of this practice.
People were supported by staff that were caring. People were supported to make choices and staff promoted people’s independence. Peoples communication needs were assessed and planned for. People had their privacy and dignity protected.
People’s preferences were understood by staff. People had access to a range of activities. People were clear about how to make a complaint and these were responded to. People were supported to consider their preferences for care at the end of their life. Whilst the service was not supporting people with end of life care at the time of our inspection, there were systems in place to consider peoples wishes.
Notifications were submitted to CQC as required. People and their relatives told us they had noted improvements since the new management team had been in place and felt they were approachable. Staff also felt the new management team offered them support in their role. Quality checks were in place and an action plan was used to identify areas for improvement.