Annie's Healthcare Services C.I.C.

Annie's Healthcare Services C.I.C. is a domiciliary care agency and is based in the London Borough of Redbridge. The service provides personal care to people in their own homes. 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 there were 12 people using the service.

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

People commented the service was safe and they or their relatives did not have any concerns. There were systems to protect people from abuse and avoidable harm. Risks associated with people's care were identified, and there was guidance for staff about how to keep people safe. There were enough staff to make sure people had the care and support they needed. The provider had a thorough recruitment and selection process for new staff. Systems were in place to make sure people received their medicine safely.

People's needs were assessed before they started to use the service. Staff had completed a structured induction and there was a varied training programme available that helped them meet the needs of the people they supported. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The registered manager worked with health care professionals to ensure people’s needs were met.

People received personalised care and support that met their individual needs and took full account of their background history and personal circumstances. Staff respected people’s choices and ensured their privacy and dignity was maintained. People and or their relatives were involved in decisions about the support they received, and their independence was respected and promoted. The provider had a complaints policy which included who to contact to raise a complaint and how it would be dealt with.

The registered manager operated an open and inclusive culture. People, their relatives, staff and other professionals were encouraged to help improve the service provided to people. The provider had systems to monitor and improve quality of the service provided. The registered manager had good links with a number of health and social care professionals, and this helped to ensure people’s needs were fully met.

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 on 7 June 2018).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on when the service registered with us.

Follow up

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

Following the last inspection in July 2016, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the well led domain to at least good. We did receive a comprehensive action plan within the time allocated to them. We asked the provider to take action to make improvements in sending us notifications, which they were legally obliged to do. This action had been completed and the provider now met legal requirements.

Annie's Healthcare Community Interest Company provides support, including personal care, to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 16 people receiving care and support from the service.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. 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 were aware of their responsibilities to ensure that people were protected from the risk or potential risk of harm. There were policies and procedures in place for staff to follow. Potential risks to people’s health and welfare were assessed and there was guidance on how to manage these risks and keep people safe.

There were enough staff to meet the needs of the people. Before newly recruited staff started employment, the provider undertook all necessary employment checks. Staff had received training to meet the needs of the people.

There were systems in place to manage people's medicines so that they received them when they needed.

The management team and staff understood their responsibility to comply with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). They were aware of how to support people who could not make decisions for themselves when required.

People were supported to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs. Records showed people had regular access to health and social care professionals. People received care and support in a compassionate way from a staff team that knew them well and were familiar with their needs. Each person had a care plan outlining how they needed support and how they liked to be helped.

The provider had a complaints procedure which people could access and were made aware of. The registered manager ensured that any issues raised were resolved to the satisfaction of the person. People who used the service, their representatives and staff were asked for their views and they were acted on.

There was a registered manager in post. 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.

Annie's Healthcare Community Interest Company provides support, including personal care, to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection there were 16 people receiving care and support from the service.

People and their relatives told us they were happy with the service and staff working there. They felt the service was managed well. However, we found the registered manager did not submit statutory notifications to the Care Quality Commission, as required by law.

People were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. Incidents and accidents were documented.

There was a recruitment system in place that helped the provider make safer recruitment decisions when employing new staff. People were safe as staffing levels were sufficient to meet their needs.

People’s needs had been assessed before they started using the service. Care plans reflected people’s needs and preferences, as well as any risks associated with their care and the environment they lived in. These were reviewed regularly to ensure staff continued to meet people’s changing needs.

Staff had a good knowledge of people they supported and respected their privacy and dignity. They promoted people’s independence and supported them to eat and drink sufficient amounts to meet their needs.

Where people needed assistance taking their medicines this was administered safely by staff who had been trained to do so.

Staff felt supported and received regular supervision and an annual appraisal. They received a structured induction and training to meet the needs of people they supported.

Staff demonstrated a good understanding of the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and knew what they should do should a person lack the capacity to make decision.

People had regular access to health and social care professionals and staff supported them to attend their appointments when requested.

The service had a complaints policy which was included in the information pack provided to people at the start of their care package. People were aware who they would contact if they were not happy about the service they received.

There were regular quality assurance checks and audits undertaken by the office staff. Where improvements were needed the registered manager had put action plans in place to address these.

People told us that their relatives received high quality care from the provider. One person told us, "The staff are approachable and very caring." People's consent was sought before care and treatment was carried out. We saw in the care records that people had signed in agreement for the support plan to be delivered. Staff told us that they respected people's wishes.

We looked at four care records and spoke with two relatives. We saw that the care plans were detailed and included risk assessments. People told us that the provider involved them in the planning and delivery of care. One person commented, "Nothing is done without consulting us."

The provider supported their staff in their professional development and provided them with supervision and training. One member of staff told us, "They are a good employer."

We saw that the provider had a system to monitor the quality of services and contacted people for their views. People told us that they were satisfied with the services. One person told us, "They know my views."

We saw that the provider had a complaints procedure and kept a log of complaints and concerns. They had not received any formal complaint in the last year. One informal complaint was dealt with satisfactorily. One person told us, "They are always at the end of a phone."