Archived: Apex Prime Care - Hersham

Updated 3 July 2019

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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

One inspector carried out the inspection.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they 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 visit because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection.

Before the inspection

We used the information the registered manager sent us in the provider information return (PIR), which was submitted in March 2019. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We reviewed the evidence we had about the service. This included any notifications of significant events, such as serious injuries or safeguarding referrals. Notifications are information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

During the inspection

Inspection site visit activity started on 22 May 2019 and ended on 24 May 2019. We visited the office location on these dates to see the registered manager and to review care records, documentation and policies and procedures.

We checked care records for four people, including their assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at four staff files and records of staff supervision and spot checks. We also looked at the complaints log, accident and incident records, quality monitoring checks and audits.

After the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives by telephone to hear their views about the care and support provided. We received feedback from a professional who had an involvement with the agency. We also received feedback from five staff about the training and support they received to carry out their roles.

Updated 3 July 2019

Apex Prime Care - Hersham is a domiciliary care agency that was supporting 75 people at the time of the inspection. Not everyone using the service receives a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. Most of the people using the service were older people although some were younger adults who needed support due to healthcare conditions.

People’s experience of using this service:

The improvements in management oversight and monitoring which had started at the last inspection had been embedded, which meant people received well-planned and reliable care.

The management team’s communication with people, relatives and staff had improved. This meant people knew which staff would be visiting them and were informed of any changes. Staff received more detailed information about people’s needs, which ensured they had guidance about how to provide the care people needed.

The provider had effective quality monitoring systems and the care provided by staff was monitored through spot checks. People were encouraged to give feedback about their care and this was acted upon. The registered manager investigated any concerns or complaints received and ensured these were resolved.

People received their care from consistent staff, which they said was important. Staff were kind and caring and treated people with respect. 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.

There were enough staff employed to meet the agency’s care commitments. The provider’s recruitment procedures helped ensure only suitable staff were employed. Staff understood their roles in keeping people safe from abuse and felt able to speak up about any concerns they had.

People’s needs were assessed to ensure staff had the training and skills to provide their care. Potential risks to people and staff had been assessed and measures put in place to mitigate these. Medicines were managed safely and staff maintained appropriate standards of infection control.

Staff attended an induction when they joined the agency and had access to the training they needed to provide people’s care. Staff met with their managers for supervision, which enabled them to discuss their performance and training needs.

Staff monitored people’s health and reported any concerns they had about people’s wellbeing. This enabled people’s relatives or the management team to arrange appropriate healthcare input. The agency worked effectively with other professionals to ensure people received the care they needed.

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

Rating at last inspection and update

At the last inspection the service was rated Requires Improvement. The report of this inspection was published on 19 April 2018. People did not always receive a reliable, consistent service. Some people reported that their care workers were often late and they were not always informed if their care workers were delayed. Some staff said they had insufficient travelling time between calls and did not always have time at each visit to provide the support outlined in people's care plans.

Following the last inspection, we asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider is no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.