Elite Care Agency

Updated 6 June 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:

The inspection team consisted of one inspector and an expert by experience (ExE). 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:

Elite Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. There was a change of provider and registered manager in April 2019. Most of the evidence was based on information under the previous provider which we have considered when carrying out the inspection.

Not everyone using Elite Care Agency receives a regulated activity. Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects the service being received by people receiving 'personal care'; help with tasks relating to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we consider any wider social care provided.

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 two working days’ notice of the inspection visit because the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be available.

Inspection site visit activity started on 13 May 2019 and ended on 21 May 2019. We visited the office location on 13 May 2019 to see the registered manager and to review records.

What we did:

The expert by experience spoke with nine people and three relatives on the telephone to gain their views on the service. We received feedback, via email, from one person using the service, three relatives, one friend of a person, six care staff and one healthcare professional.

During the inspection visit we reviewed four people's care records and records relating to the management of this service.

Updated 6 June 2019

About the service:

Elite Care Agency is a domiciliary care agency (DCA) registered to provide personal care to people living in their own homes in the Bicester area. The service supports mainly older people and at the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care and support to 56 people.

There was a change in provider in April 2019. However, the service continued to operate from the same office with the same staff team.

People’s experience of using this service:

People and their relatives gave us positive feedback about the service and staff. They described the staff as caring and supportive. People's privacy and dignity was respected by staff. People were supported to be independent and were in control of the support they received. People confirmed that the staff team were, “Always positive ambassadors of Elite.” Staff had built trusting and caring relationships with people as they worked with the same people and could spend time developing meaningful relationships.

People's care plans were individual and described their needs and preferences, although some information was incorrect which the registered manager dealt with shortly after the inspection. Care plans were person centred and informative. Individual risks were identified, and staff had risk management guidelines to inform the support they provided to people.

To ensure people were safely supported the registered manager and new provider were in the process of arranging staff training and reviewing people’s and staff records. This was due to the improvements that needed to be made in these areas.

People were supported to access health professionals and maintain good diet and nutrition. Staff worked well with other health and social care professionals to help people receive coordinated support.

People's rights were respected, and they were encouraged to give their views on the service. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager was clear about their roles and responsibilities and led by example. Staff spoke favourably about the support they received and recognised that changes and continuous improvements would be made under the new provider.

Rating at last inspection: Under the previous provider the service was rated Good. Report published 2 June 2016.

Why we inspected: This was a scheduled, planned inspection based on the service's previous rating under the previous provider.

Follow up: Going forward we will continue to monitor this service and plan to inspect in line with our inspection schedule for those services rated as Good.

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