Everycare Hillingdon

Updated 5 December 2023

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 1 inspector and telephone interviews with people and relatives were undertaken by an Expert by Experience. 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 and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post. The registered manager was also the owner of the company.

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 18 September 2023 and ended on 29 September 2023. We visited the location’s office on 20 September 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since their last inspection. 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 about their experience of the care, 6 family members and a family friend. We received feedback from 5 staff members via email. We spoke with the registered manager who was also a director of the company. We looked at a range of records which included the care records for 5 people, 4 care workers’ files and a range of records including medicines records and policies.

Updated 5 December 2023

About the service

Everycare Hillingdon is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. All the people receiving support were funding their own 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. At the time of the inspection the service provided support for 26 adults and older people of which 19 people received support with personal care.

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

Incidents and accidents were recorded and investigated but lessons which could be learned to reduce future risk were not always identified and recorded. We have made a recommendation about the identification of lessons learned following incidents and accident.

Complaints were investigated and responded to, but reviews were not always carried out to identify if any actions could be taken to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. We have made a recommendation about the identification of actions to be taken to reduce risks following a complaint.

People felt they were safe when they received care in their home. Relatives also felt their family member was safe when supported by staff. The provider had a robust recruitment process. Medicines were managed in a safe manner and people received their medicines as prescribed. Infection control procedures were followed by staff.

Staff received appropriate training so they could meet people’s care and support needs. 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’s care and support needs were assessed and reviewed regularly.

People felt the staff were kind, caring and respected their dignity and privacy. Care plans identified people’s cultural and religious preferences. People’s care was provided in a person-centred manner with care plans identifying their support need and how they wanted their care provided. People’s communication support needs were identified.

The provider had a range of quality assurance processes in place to monitor the quality of the care being provided. 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

The last rating for this service was good (published 28 October 2017).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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