Elite Domiciliary Care PVT Ltd

Updated 20 December 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 carried out by 2 inspectors. One inspector visited the office location and spoke with staff at the office, while another inspector made telephone calls to staff. An Expert by Experience spoke with people using the service as well as their relatives. 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, flats and specialist housing.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post. However, there was a care manager who was in the process of registering with CQC.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last focussed inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked 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 spoke with 5 people who used the service and six relatives. We spoke with 8 members of staff including the compliance and quality assurance manager, care manager, care coordinator, senior care staff and care staff. We viewed a range of records including 6 people's care folders and multiple medication records. We looked at 3 staff files in relation to recruitment. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, were reviewed.

Updated 20 December 2022

About the service

Elite Domiciliary Care PVT Limited is a care agency providing personal care to 51 people. The service provides support to adults with physical disabilities, dementia, sensory impairments and with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorders.

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

Quality checks needed to be more robust. People told us they wanted more consistent staff. People had detailed care plans and risk assessments in place. Lessons were learned when things went wrong, and improvements were made. Staff were safely recruited and completed appropriate training. People were kept safe from risk by staff who understood safeguarding policies and procedures. Medicines were safely managed. People were protected from the risk of infection by staff wearing the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Staff accessed information electronically through an app on their phones. Staff supported people to maintain independence and understood to seek consent when supporting people with their care.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Staff were caring and people felt listened to. Staff were responsive to people’s needs; amending care plans and taking into account feedback from questionnaires. People’s communication needs were considered. Staff received end of life training and people had information in their care plans about end of life discussions.

Staff felt the manager was approachable and fair. The manager understood their duty of candour. The provider worked in partnership with other organisations.

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 23 January 2020 and this is the first fully comprehensive inspection. However, we did carry out a focussed inspection of safe and well-led (published 16 February 2021).

Why we inspected

We received concerns in relation to quality of care and staffing levels. As the provider had also moved premises, we undertook a comprehensive inspection. The overall rating for the service is good based on the findings of this inspection.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at risk of harm from these concerns.

You can read the report from our last focussed inspection by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Elite Domiciliary Care PVT Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

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