10 April 2019
During a routine inspection
Apollo Healthcare Ltd is a domiciliary care agency specialising in providing personal care and assistance for people with complex healthcare needs living in their own homes. The East Anglian office of Apollo was supporting 27 people at the time of this inspection, including eight children, the majority of which was funded by NHS Continuing Health Care for 24/7 care. This support often included appropriately delegated healthcare tasks required to enable people to live in the community safely.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People using the service gave us mixed feedback regarding the availability and consistency of care staff. The potential negative impact upon people not receiving care, support and clinical interventions when needed was so significant we judged this to be a breach of regulations regarding staffing.
People received their medicines when they should. However, we made a recommendation about their medicines administration systems. Records relating to the planning of end of life care and mental capacity assessments were not based upon best practices. We recommended that the provider reviewed best practice guidance in both these areas.
Feedback regarding the administrative team was mixed with people reporting inconsistent communications. People experienced a service that needed to improve the way complaints were used to drive consistent quality provision. The quality assurance systems were not always sufficiently thorough to identify issues. The effectiveness of communication and organisation of the service therefore required improvements.
The care provided was rated highly by people in that they felt safe and the care received was of good quality. Staff ensured people's safety and acted when necessary to prevent any harm.
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. People received a thorough assessment which effectively supported achieving their desired outcomes. Comprehensive training and nurse led support ensured staff were competent to carry out complex health and social care. People were supported to maximise their health and well-being. People with often complex health conditions were supported to access their community.
People described care staff as kind and compassionate. They promoted people's independence and dignity. The provider ensured people’s individual characteristics were respected and supported. The provider involved people in decisions about their care and sought feedback regularly on the standard of care provided. People were positive about the registered manager’s approachability and support.
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)
This service was registered with us on 12/04/2018 and this is its first inspection.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the service’s registration date.
Follow up
We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.