Agincare UK Eastbourne

Updated 5 March 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 undertaken by two inspectors, an assistant 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. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

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 notice of the inspection. This was to establish the safest and most appropriate way of carrying out our inspection visit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspection activity and planning started on 11 January 2021 in preparation for the inspection and ended on 18 February 2021. We visited the office location on 18 February 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had about the service. The provider was not asked to complete a 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 took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

We spoke with eight people who used the service and two relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with seven members of staff including a care coordinator, a senior carer and five care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included eight people's care records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, complaints management and quality assurance systems.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records, including multiple medication records. We looked at a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality assurance systems and audits.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at updated training records and sought further information about end of life support.

Updated 5 March 2021

About the service

Agincare UK Eastbourne is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to 52 people, some of whom were older people, had physical disabilities, and people living with dementia.

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

People had benefitted from improvements the service had made since the last inspection. Improvements in care planning gave staff the information they needed to support people safely and effectively. Systems were effective in ensuring that 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 had access to a robust complaints system that addressed any concerns they had.

Systems for monitoring quality and managing risks had improved. There were arrangements to support governance and to provide management oversight of the service. People told us they were happy with the care they received, and that staff helped them to feel safe.

People were supported by staff who had received appropriate training to meet their needs. Assessments of people's needs were thorough and supported people's diverse needs. Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink and to access the health care services they needed.

People were supported by staff who showed compassion and respect. People spoke highly of the care staff that supported them and said that they had developed good relationships with them. Staff knew people well and had the information they needed to provide good responsive care to them.

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 requires improvement (published 29 August 2019) and there were three breaches of regulation. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service on 15 July 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve Effective, Responsive and Well Led.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions of Effective, Responsive and Well Led which contain those requirements.

The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for those key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service has changed from Requires Improvement to Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Agincare UK Eastbourne on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

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.