Background to this inspection
Updated
22 July 2021
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency which provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. However, the registered manager was on leave at the time of our inspection. The registered manager and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Notice of inspection
We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 18 May 2021 and ended on 4 June 2021. We visited the office location on 3 June 2021.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as allegations of abuse. We reviewed the information received from the provider in the provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We spoke to local authority commissioners to gather their feedback. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We spoke with three people who used the service and five relatives about their experience of the care provided. We received feedback from three members of care staff, the care co-ordinator, manager and the provider.
We reviewed a range of records. This included five people's care records, risk assessments and medicine records. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service including; quality assurance records and a variety of policies and procedures implemented by the provider.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
22 July 2021
About the service:
Esteemed Life Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care and support to older people and younger adults in their own homes. Some of these people were living with dementia. At the time of our inspection 12 people were receiving personal care.
People's experience of using this service:
People told us they felt safe with staff. The manager and staff knew their responsibilities in relation to keeping people safe from the risk of abuse. Care plans contained risk assessments and risk to people's health and wellbeing were addressed and mitigated. Robust recruitment processes were utilised to prevent unsuitable staff from being employed. There were enough staff employed to meet people's assessed care and support needs. Staff were trained in how to protect people from COVID-19.
People's needs were assessed including their protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010. 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 service worked with Health and Social Care professionals to make appropriate referrals.
People were cared for by staff who treated them with kindness, dignity and respect. Staff were committed to providing person centred care and respected people's individual preferences.
The provider had a complaints procedure in place, and gathered feedback from people, relatives and staff about their service. Communication was being improved and call monitoring systems were being developed to improve the responsiveness of their service.
The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission; however, the registered manager was on maternity leave at the time of our inspection visit. The provider had appointed an interim manager (referred to as the manager in this report). The service had an effective system in place to assess, monitor and improve the quality and safety of the services provided. The provider was developing their service based on the results of audits and feedback.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we inspected:
This was a planned comprehensive inspection because the service had not previously been rated. The service was registered with us on 12 June 2019 and this is the first inspection.
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.