Premier Care

Updated 18 April 2023

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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 2 inspectors and an Expert by Experience who made phone calls to people and relatives. 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.

Registered Manager.

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection as we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 13 March 2023 and ended on 28 March 2023. We visited the location’s office on 21 March 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service. We sought feedback from the local authority and other professionals who worked with the service and received feedback from 1 professional. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. 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 used all of this information to plan our inspection.

The inspection

During our office visit we spoke with the registered manager, the registered provider, the deputy manager, and other office staff. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service, including 6 people's care records, 4 staff files, and training and quality assurance records. We met or had email contact with 26 staff.

The Expert by Experience spoke with 11 people who use the service and 10 relatives to gather their feedback on the quality of care provided. During the inspection, the provider sent us additional information by email, as requested.

Updated 18 April 2023

About the service

Premier Care is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection, the service was providing personal care to 291 people. This includes 44 people being supported through the enablement service. This service provides time limited support to assist people coming out of hospital to regain as much of their independence as possible.

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

Feedback about the culture of the service and care provided from people and their representatives was largely positive.

The provider had resolved concerns raised at our last inspection. They were committed to developing flexible care which met the needs of the local community. They worked well with other organisations to achieve this aim, in particular in enabling people to return home safely from hospital.

Recruitment processes had improved. The service had enough appropriately skilled staff to meet people’s needs and keep them safe. Staff were largely positive about the service. The provider had introduced a new role of care coordinator to support staff wellbeing.

The provider had a range of quality checks which helped senior staff ensure care was safe and met people’s needs. The registered manager took prompt action when concerns were raised.

The registered manager minimised risk across the service. Risk assessments were personalised, and care plans had been improved to provide staff with detailed guidance on how to support people safely.

Safeguarding practices protected people from the risk of abuse. Senior staff were working to ensure staff felt able to speak out when they had concerns. Staff supported people to take their medicines safely, and as prescribed. Staff minimised the risk of infection.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. 'Right support, right care, right culture' is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

The provider demonstrated an understanding of Right support, right care, right culture. Although very few people with a learning disability and autistic people were supported by the service, the provider had systems in place to ensure their needs were met in a person-centred manner.

Right Support:

Staff focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do.

Right Care:

People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs.

Right Culture:

People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity.

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 overall good, with requires improvement in safe (published 8 July 2021).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our reinspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.