About the service Artius Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults living with families or in their own homes in the community. 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 our inspection the service was supporting 38 people living with frailty and other health related conditions, with the regulated activity of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
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, staff were unfamiliar with the Mental Capacity Act (2005).
We have made a recommendation for the provider to seek further guidance on the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) from a reputable source to improve staff knowledge.
Staff had not consistently completed refresher training on topics such as safeguarding, moving and handling practical and other training the provider had assessed as mandatory. This was an area needing improvement. Staff had a good knowledge and understanding of people's specific care needs and how they wished to be cared for and supported.
The quality assurance system contained an audit, although the provider had not yet fully utilised this. Improvements were needed in how the provider assessed, monitored and used their systems to drive improvements. The leadership in the service had recently changed and the current management team acted openly and responsively during the inspection ensuring they took immediate action to remedy any areas of improvement identified.
Staff received supervision and appraisals to support them in their role and identify any learning needs and opportunities for professional development.
Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink and to make choices about what they ate and drank. People received appropriate healthcare support as and when needed and staff knew what to do to summon assistance.
People were given every opportunity to be valued and equal partners in decisions around their care and support. This was reflected in the good quality care and support people received, from a committed, passionate and caring group of staff. One person said, “I really appreciate the care. They do the things that suit me in the way I like them done. We do it together, so I feel I have the power. I’ll say, ‘I’m not safe doing that’ and they listen to that. It works for me.” One relative said, “It’s brilliant. I’ve got no complaints. [Person] loves them all and they love him. They always say, ‘Do you want me to do anything else.”
Staff liaised with health professionals and looked at ways to improve people's life experiences. One person had a health condition that quickly deteriorated, saying, “[Carer] said, ‘You’re very unwell, you need to go to the hospital.’ I said I didn’t want to go to the hospital, so they phoned [relative] with my consent and told them. They spoke to me and I went in. They (staff) were spot on. They saved my life. They’re very, very good.”
Senior staff carried out spot checks on staff to monitor the quality of the service provided and to seek the views of the people who were supported.
People, relatives and staff were encouraged to offer feedback. Staff felt well supported and people were confident in the service they received. One relative said, “I’ve done questionnaires in the past. They’re happy for us to contact them if we’ve got any concerns and they have a positive response. Our feedback is 99% positive. They like to know how they’re doing.”
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 26 October 2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the skills and qualifications of staff. Concerns were shared regarding the provider’s quality assurance systems. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the Key Questions of Effective and Well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those Key Questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Effective and Well-Led sections of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Artius Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.