About the service Personal Choice Carers at Home Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support for people in their own homes, some of whom may be living with dementia. Not everyone who uses the service may receive 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 were providing personal care to 16 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Feedback from people and their relatives about the service was universally positive and everyone we spoke with said they would recommend the service to others. This was summed up by one person who said, "We think they [the company] are the cats whiskers. To [named person] and myself they are our family. Nothing is too much trouble and how nice it is to se a boss working alongside the staff."
People felt safe and well cared for using the service. People benefitted from being supported by regular care staff. This meant staff got to know people very well and provided care and support the way people wanted.
Risks to people had been identified and staff knew what to do to keep people safe. There were enough staff employed who had been safely recruited. Staff had enough time to spend with people. People received their calls on time and staff stayed for the full duration. No-one had experienced a missed visit.
Medicines were managed safely by staff who had been trained and assessed as competent. Staff adhered to good infection control practices, such as wearing gloves and aprons to prevent the spread of infection.
We made a recommendation about medicine competency assessments.
Staff received training and support to be competent in their role. Staff felt well supported and enjoyed working at the service. People's needs had been assessed to be sure the service could meet them. People's choices and preferences were known and respected.
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 received help with meals and drinks that met their needs and preferences. Health needs had been assessed and people were supported to access healthcare services when needed. The service worked in partnership with a range of health and social care professionals to support people with their health and wellbeing. Feedback from professionals showed the service worked effectively with external stakeholders.
Staff were kind and caring and knew people well. People were listened to and involved as partners in their care. Peoples dignity, privacy and independence was respected and upheld.
People received personalised care that met their individual needs and preferences. A complaints policy and procedure was in place and people knew how to make a complaint. No-one we spoke to had ever made a complaint and people reported high levels of satisfaction with the service. People's communication needs had been assessed and staff knew how to communicate with people effectively.
If people had any end of life wishes and preferences these were discussed with people and their families.
We made a recommendation about recording practices relating to end of life care.
The service was well led by a longstanding registered manager who was committed to providing good quality person-centred care. This commitment was shared and put into practice by the staff team. The registered manager was highly regarded by people and staff.
Quality assurance systems and processes were in place to monitor and improve safety and quality People and staff were included in the running of the service. Feedback was invited and acted upon to drive improvements.
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 February 2017).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Essex Dementia Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.