Personal Choice Carers At Home Limited

Updated 5 March 2020

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 team was made up of one inspector.

Service and service type

This service 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. 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 3rd December 2019 and ended on 4th December 2019. We visited the office location on 3 December 2019.

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. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and two members of staff and contacted a further six members of staff by email. We observed staff providing care and support to two people in their own homes and spoke with these people about their experience of using the service. We also spoke with two relatives of people by telephone. We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s care records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We sought feedback from health and social care professionals who worked in partnership with the service and continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.

Updated 5 March 2020

About the service

Personal Choice Carers at Home Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support for people in their own homes, some of whom may be living with dementia. Not everyone who uses the service may receive 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. At the time of our inspection the service were providing personal care to 16 people.

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

Feedback from people and their relatives about the service was universally positive and everyone we spoke with said they would recommend the service to others. This was summed up by one person who said, "We think they [the company] are the cats whiskers. To [named person] and myself they are our family. Nothing is too much trouble and how nice it is to se a boss working alongside the staff."

People felt safe and well cared for using the service. People benefitted from being supported by regular care staff. This meant staff got to know people very well and provided care and support the way people wanted.

Risks to people had been identified and staff knew what to do to keep people safe. There were enough staff employed who had been safely recruited. Staff had enough time to spend with people. People received their calls on time and staff stayed for the full duration. No-one had experienced a missed visit.

Medicines were managed safely by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent. Staff adhered to good infection control practices, such as wearing gloves and aprons to prevent the spread of infection.

We made a recommendation about medicine competency assessments.

Staff received training and support to be competent in their role. Staff felt well supported and enjoyed working at the service. People's needs had been assessed to be sure the service could meet them. People's choices and preferences were known and respected.

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.

People received help with meals and drinks that met their needs and preferences. Health needs had been assessed and people were supported to access healthcare services when needed. The service worked in partnership with a range of health and social care professionals to support people with their health and wellbeing. Feedback from professionals showed the service worked effectively with external stakeholders.

Staff were kind and caring and knew people well. People were listened to and involved as partners in their care. Peoples dignity, privacy and independence was respected and upheld.

People received personalised care that met their individual needs and preferences. A complaints policy and procedure was in place and people knew how to make a complaint. No-one we spoke to had ever made a complaint and people reported high levels of satisfaction with the service. People's communication needs had been assessed and staff knew how to communicate with people effectively.

If people had any end of life wishes and preferences these were discussed with people and their families.

We made a recommendation about recording practices relating to end of life care.

The service was well led by a longstanding registered manager who was committed to providing good quality person-centred care. This commitment was shared and put into practice by the staff team. The registered manager was highly regarded by people and staff.

Quality assurance systems and processes were in place to monitor and improve safety and quality People and staff were included in the running of the service. Feedback was invited and acted upon to drive improvements.

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 (published February 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Essex Dementia Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.