Premiere Care

Updated 5 May 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.

As part of this inspection, we looked at the infection control and prevention measures in place. This was conducted so we can understand the preparedness of the agency in preventing or managing an infection outbreak, and to identify good practice we can share with other services.

Inspection team

One inspector and an Expert by Experience carried out this inspection. 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 agency 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 a short period of notice for the inspection because of the Coronavirus pandemic. We had to arrange safe working procedures for our inspection.

Inspection activity started on 12 April 2021 and ended on 20 April 2021. We visited the office location on 20 April 2021.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the agency since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the agency. 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 agency, what the agency does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the agency and made the judgements in this report. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

The Expert by Experience spoke with four relatives and three people about their experience of the agency. The inspector spoke with five members of staff including the registered manager (who is also the nominated individual), three care workers and one care coordinator. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We reviewed a range of records. This included seven people’s care records and medicine records. We looked at five care worker files in relation to recruitment, training and supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found.

Updated 5 May 2021

About the service

Premiere Care is a domiciliary care agency, providing care and support to people living with physical disabilities, or dementia and older people. At the time of this inspection, there were 55 people using the agency.

The agency can provide a practical and/or a personal care service, during the day or night. The agency mostly provides support to people in and around the Yorkshire Dales; it introduces self-employed care workers to the people it supports. The provider has ongoing direction and control of the care provided and is responsible for the safety and quality of the agency. The management team (care coordinators and registered manager) are employed by the provider.

Not everyone who used the agency received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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 benefited from improved quality assurance processes within the agency. The provider had made positive changes to the way they assessed, monitored and reduced risk to people’s health and safety. The management team carried out regular reviews and spot checks to ensure the quality of the agency, and the safety of people who used it, were maintained to a high standard.

Care plans and risk assessments had been reviewed; access to records and monitoring of the quality of care had improved. The introduction of an online care system meant that changes to records could be actioned straight away. The management team were able to monitor this daily and completed regular audits.

People confirmed they had a tailored package of care to meet their needs. Without exception, people said they felt safe and care workers were respectful.

People received their medicines safely and their health was well-managed. Improvements had been made to the monitoring and recording of medicines administered by care workers.

People received good consistent care from friendly care workers who went out of their way to assist them. Relatives and people said the agency was reliable and efficient. They had good communication with the office and received regular updated information during the Coronavirus pandemic.

People said their care workers were skilled and competent. Care workers had received appropriate induction, training and support to enable them to carry out their role.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and care workers supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The policies and systems in the agency supported this practice.

People, relatives and care workers told us the management team were approachable and listened to them when they had any concerns. All feedback was used to make improvements to the service.

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)

The last rating for this agency was requires improvement (published 20 February 2020) and there were three breaches of regulation. 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 an announced comprehensive inspection of this agency on 26 November 2019. Three breaches of legal requirement were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve medicine management, care worker training and supervision, records, and quality assurance as part of their governance of the agency.

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 Safe, Effective and Well-led, which contain those requirements.

We looked at infection prevention and control measures under the Safe key question. We look at this in all care service inspections even if no concerns or risks have been identified. This is to provide assurance that the agency can respond to COVID-19 and other infection outbreaks effectively.

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 Premiere Care 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.