Archived: Apex Prime Care - Ashtead

Apex Prime Care – Ashtead provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes. All the people using the service at the time of our inspection were older people, some of whom had needs in relation to health, mobility, and sensory Impairment.

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.

The service was supporting 34 people at the time of our inspection, 25 of whom received personal care.

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

People felt safe when staff provided their care. Relatives were confident their family members received a reliable service from staff who knew how to provide care in a safe way. Staff understood their responsibilities in protecting people from abuse and knew how to report any concerns they had. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed.

Risk assessments were used effectively to identify and manage any risks involved in people’s care. People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff protected people from the risk of infection by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) when they carried out their visits.

People received their care from kind and caring staff with whom they had established positive relationships. Staff knew and respected people’s preferences about their care. Staff encouraged and supported people to be independent wherever possible.

Staff had an induction when they joined the agency and had access to the training they needed to carry out their roles. Staff had opportunities to discuss their performance and training needs with their line managers.

People’s needs were assessed before they began to use the service and kept under review. Staff were observant of any changes in people’s health and wellbeing and highlighted any concerns they had promptly. Professionals said staff followed any guidance they put in place to ensure people received the care they needed.

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.

The management team encouraged people who used the service, relatives and staff to contribute their views and acted on their feedback. Staff were supported well by their managers and had access to advice and guidance when they needed it. There were effective systems in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. Managers and staff worked effectively with other professionals to ensure people received the care they needed.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The registered provider of this service has changed since the last inspection. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was good, published on 14 June 2019. The service was registered under the current provider on 4 August 2021.

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.