Emmaculate Care Services Northampton Office

Updated 6 April 2022

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was completed by 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 24 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 9 March 2022 and ended on 14 March 2022. We visited the location’s office on 9 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they registered with CQC. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We were unable to talk directly to people during the inspection. However, we spoke to one relative and one professional about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, business manager and care staff.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication 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 continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 6 April 2022

About the service

Emmaculate Care Services Northampton Office is a domiciliary care agency. They provide personal care to people living in their own homes. 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. At the time of the inspection three people were receiving personal care.

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

Medicines management required improvement. Records were not consistently completed to ensure people received their medicines as prescribed.

Incident recording needed embedding into practice. Some information was not detailed and therefore could not be properly analysed to ensure best practice had been followed.

People were supported by a consistent staff team who knew them well, had been sufficiently trained and who had been safely recruited.

People were protected from harm. Risk assessments were completed with mitigating strategies recorded. Staff received training on safeguarding and understood how to recognise signs of abuse.

Infection control procedures were embedded into practice. Staff wore appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and understood good hand hygiene guidance. Staff completed COVID-19 testing in line with government guidance.

Care plans held person-centred information within them. Staff had time to read care plans and get to know people.

People's health care needs were supported. Referrals were made to other health professionals as needed and staff supported people to access their doctor or dentist as required.

Information was offered in a variety of formats to meet each person’s needs. Easy read and pictures were evidenced as well as the use of social stories and sensory items.

People were supported by kind, caring staff, who promoted privacy, dignity and respect. Staff helped people with learning new skills.

Systems and processes were in place to ensure the registered manager had oversight of the service. Feedback was requested from people and staff to ensure improvements could be identified and changes made.

Staff felt supported by the registered manager and were very positive about the service.

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

This service was registered with us on 18 June 2019 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about safeguarding people from the risk of harm. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns. Please see the safe and well led sections of this full report.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.