Epsom

Updated 8 October 2021

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 was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to older people living in their own houses and flats.

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 the service is small, and management are often out of the office supporting staff and people. We wanted to be sure the registered manager would be in the registered office to speak with us.

Inspection activity started on 19 August 2021 and ended on 23 August 2021. We visited the office location on 19 August 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since its registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. 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 of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with two people who used the service and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager, administrator, senior care coordinator and healthcare assistants.

We reviewed a range of records. This included three people’s care records and medicines records for people who received support in this area. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment, staff supervision and training. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality and safety audits were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training and supervision data, further governance records and policies and procedures.

Updated 8 October 2021

About the service

Epsom is a domiciliary care agency run by Bliss Home Care Ltd which provides personal care support to people living in their own homes and flats. It supports older people living with physical and health support needs, some of whom also live with dementia. At the time of the inspection the agency supported six people with personal care.

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 were supported in a way which they chose and were in control of. Staff knew how to support people safely around their day to day needs, COVID-19 precautions and medicines. The provider employed only suitable staff and ensured there was enough of them to provide all planned care visits.

People told us they felt their care was personalised and provided by caring and polite staff. Staff knew how to support people to be as independent as possible, to communicate effectively and to make their own choices which were then respected. People were offered and given support around their day to day personal needs, upkeep of their homes, safety and access to their preferred activities or healthcare as per individual circumstances.

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.

Staff felt competent for their roles and were complimentary about support they had been receiving from the management. People, relatives and staff felt communication was good and there was a caring, professional and open culture in the service which brought good outcomes for people.

The registered manager ensured the quality and safety of the service were monitored and was very involved in the day to day running of the service. They made a range of improvements based on people’s feedback and service needs. For example, new roles within the management team were developed.

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 06/04/2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This inspection was based on the date the service registered with CQC.

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.