AK Care Ltd

AK Care Services Limited is a small domiciliary care agency providing care and support to four people living in their own homes with a range of disabilities.

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 all four people were receiving a service that is regulated by CQC.

People’s experience of the service

People and their relatives told us they were very happy with the service. Staff were kind and caring and they had worked with people consistently, so they understood people’s needs and offered a personalised service.

Care plans were in place with risk assessments providing guidance for staff.

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. However, care plans lacked detail on people’s mental capacity. This was rectified following the inspection. Staff understood the importance of consent, and people confirmed this.

People were safeguarded against the risks of abuse and harm by the systems and by the staff, who received training in safeguarding adults. Safe recruitment practices took place, so staff were considered appropriate to work with vulnerable people. However, information to confirm some staff continued to have the right to work in the UK, a requirement by law, was not in place at the time of the inspection. We found out of date documentation. This has since been addressed by the service.

The management of the service was undergoing some changes at the time of the inspection. Systems were in place to check the quality of the care provided to people, and staff were well supported in their role.

At the time of the inspection the service was not supporting people with medicines. However, staff had received training in the giving of medicines.

Rating at last inspection:

This service was last inspected on 6 July 2017. The report was published on 8 August 2017, and was rated good.

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

Why we inspected:

This inspection was carried out on 14 July 2021. This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.

During our last inspection in August 2016 we found the provider was not meeting all the required Regulations. The provider did not make reasonable adjustments to care plans to enable people who used the service to receive their care when needs had changed and did not monitor and improve the quality and risks in relation to the health and welfare of services users. We found during this inspection that the provider had taken appropriate actions to address the requirements made.

AK Care Services Limited is a small domiciliary care agency providing care and support to four people living in their own homes. The agency had five care workers employed. The agency refers to care workers as personal assistants.

The agency had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Staff demonstrated good understanding in how to recognise and report abuse and told us that they were confident that the provider would deal appropriately with allegations of abuse in relation to people who used the service.

People’s risk was managed appropriately, risk assessments reflected people’s needs and had been reviewed if people’s risk had changed.

People who used the service praised the provider’s flexibility to accommodate their requests to change calls and ensure the same care workers were allocated. Robust recruitment procedures ensured that all staff had been vetted appropriately prior to working with vulnerable people.

At the time of our inspection none of the people who used the service required any support with taking their medicines.

Care workers were provided with regular supervisions and appraisals to discuss and plan their development and training. Training was provided to care workers to ensure they had the necessary skill and knowledge to support people who used the service.

On occasions care workers helped people to prepare meals, however, all people were able to eat their meals without assistance.

Care workers had contacted the office if people’s health care needs had changed and on the person’s request accompany people to health appointments.

People told us that they had good relationships with the care workers who listened to their requests and provided caring and understanding support.

Care plans were reviewed regularly and had been updated if people’s needs had changed. People who used the service or their relatives had been involved in this process.

People told us they knew how to raise a complaint, but had currently no concerns regards to the treatment or care provided.

Regular spot-checks and surveys ensured people were able to comment on the care provided and suggest changes if required to improve the quality of care provided.

The registered provider and the registered manager did fail to review risk assessments and did not put robust risk management plans in place to mitigate such risks from happening in the future. This was a breach of regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(b) of the Health and Social Care (HSCA) 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We asked the registered provider and registered manager to comply with this breach by 20 September 2016

The registered provider and the registered manager did not provide appropriate training, professional development, supervision and appraisal to enable persons employed to carry out their duties they are employed to perform. This was a breach of regulations 18(2)(a) of the HSCA 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. We asked the registered provider and registered manager to comply with this breach by 30 September 2016.

After the comprehensive inspection, the provider wrote to us to say what they would do to meet legal requirements in relation to the breaches by 30 September 2016.

We undertook this focused inspection to check that they had followed their plan and to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for AK Care Services Limited on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

AK Care Services Limited is a small domiciliary care agency providing personal care to six people living in their own homes. The agency also provides live-in support. The agency has currently six care workers employed. The agency refers to care workers as personal assistants.

The agency has a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the HSCA 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We found that since our comprehensive inspection the registered provider had reviewed all risk assessments and put robust risk management plans in place to ensure risks to people who used the service were minimised.

Since our comprehensive inspection the registered provider ensured that personal assistants had received one supervision and annual appraisal and outstanding training was provided. This ensured that personal assistants received the support and had the necessary skill to support people in their home.

During our last inspection in August 2015 the provider was in breach of Regulation 12 Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Safe care and treatment. The provider had not reviewed risk assessments when people’s needs changed and robust management plans were not in place to mitigate such risks. The provider was also in breach of Regulation 13 HSCA 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Safeguarding service users from abuse and improper treatment. Staff had not received regular updates in safeguarding adults training and were not able to recognise the different signs of abuse and how to report suspected abuse to ensure vulnerable people were safe. The provider was also in breach of Regulation 18 HSCA 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Staffing. The provider was unable to demonstrate that staff members had received appropriate support, training, professional development, supervision and appraisal as is necessary to enable them to carry out the duties they are employed to do.

An action plan of the breaches identified at the last inspection was sent to the CQC on 19 November 2015. The registered provider told us that risk assessments would be reviewed and updated by 30 April 2016 and all care workers will receive up to date professional development, supervision and appraisal by 31 May 2016.

AK Care Services Limited is a small domiciliary care agency providing care and support to six people living in their own homes. The agency also provides live-in support. The agency has currently six care workers employed. The agency refers to care workers as personal assistants.

The agency has a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

At this inspection we found that care workers were able to demonstrate to us how to report abuse and were able to tell us the different forms of abuse. However, the provider continued to fail in providing safeguarding adults training to care workers.

People were put at harm and risk as no improvements had been made in providing robust risk management plans to mitigate such risks. Risk assessments had not been reviewed to respond to peoples changing needs.

Care workers were not receiving regular training updates, supervisions and appraisals. This meant that people using the service were at risk of care being not effective, due the care workers not having the appropriate skills.

Care plans were in place, which were based on peoples’ assessed needs and people who used the service or their relative were able to contribute in the care planning process. However, the provider failed to review these at regular intervals and respond to people’s changing needs. We did not find evidence that quality assurance monitoring was being carried out regularly, that would have helped identify the shortfalls we found during the inspection. For example regular spot checks had not been carried to monitor the quality of care.

People told us they felt safe. Care workers knew how to keep people safe from abuse. They knew how to recognise abuse and who to report to and understood how to whistleblow. Whistleblowing is when someone who works for an employer raises a concern which harms, or creates a risk of harm, to people who use the service.

Recruitment and selection procedures were in place. Checks had been undertaken to ensure care workers were suitable for the role.

Care workers demonstrated understanding of how to obtain consent form people who used the service. People and their relatives told us that they were involved and consulted about their care.

People told us that care workers were kind, caring and sensitive to their needs and supported them to maintain their independence.

Care workers were able to demonstrate how to respond to complaints in line with the registered providers’ complaints procedure.

People who used the service told us that the registered manager and registered provider contacted them frequently to monitor and assess the quality of care.

We found four breaches of regulations including continued breaches in relation to risk management, staff training and supervision. We are currently considering what further action to take. Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to any concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.