Arch Healthcare Ltd

Updated 26 January 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by two inspectors.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. This service also provides care and support to people living in 2 ‘supported living’ settings, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service short notice of the inspection; we informed them on Friday 18 November 2022 that we would visit the office on Monday 21 November 2022. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it was registered. We sought feedback from Healthwatch, the local authority and professionals who work with the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 3 people who used the service, 2 relatives and 7 members of staff including, the registered manager, team leader, senior support workers and support workers. We reviewed a range of records. This included people's care records and medicine records. We looked at 3 staff recruitment files. A variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.

Updated 26 January 2023

About the service

Arch Healthcare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides support to people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of our inspection there were 5 people using the service. 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.

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

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right support:

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 right staff were recruited to support people to stay safe and they had the skills, knowledge and competency to deliver effective care.

Right Care

People were very happy with their care and support. Relatives praised staff and were complimentary about the care provided. People were involved in developing their care and support plans. Arrangements for supporting people with their interests and social activities enabled people to live a fulfilling life and maximise their independence. The service involved people in a meaningful way. People were supported safely with their medicines and received appropriate support to make sure their health and nutritional needs were met.

Right Culture

People said the service was consistently well-led. The registered manager engaged with people who used the service, their relatives and staff. The service’s culture and values of providing high quality care was embedded in everything it did. Staff had a good understanding of care principles such as privacy, dignity and confidentiality. The service had received many compliments which evidenced staff and management worked effectively with other professionals and agencies.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 15th February 2021 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service at the previous premises was good, published on 11 September 2018.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

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