In Abi's hands

Updated 9 April 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Notice of inspection

We gave a short period notice of the inspection because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 4 March 2022 and ended on 11 March 2022. We visited the location’s office on 9 March 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used information gathered as part of a monitoring activity that took place on 3 August 2021 to help plan the inspection and inform our judgements.

We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with three relatives and one person who used the service about their experience of care provided. We spoke with the registered manager and three support workers.

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

After the inspection

We sought further assurances from the registered manager and sought assurance on the management of medicines.

Updated 9 April 2022

About the service

In Abis hands is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service 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. At the time of our inspection there were seven people receiving a regulated activity.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

The service was not always well-led. The provider's quality assurance systems were not effective in identifying and addressing issues.

We have made a recommendation about the safe management of medicines. There had been no medicines errors or harm caused to people, however staff did not always follow best practice.

The provider had safeguarding policies in place, but staff required further training in this area to develop their approach.

People using the service and their relatives told us they felt safe and well treated. Relatives told us they felt fortunate to have found the service and we were consistently told that staff were kind and caring. People were supported with dignity and respect.

Care plans for people were personalised and detailed. They gave staff clear instructions on how best to support people. Staff told us they felt supported.

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.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 16 September 2020 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection as the service had not been inspected since registering.

Enforcement

We are mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic when considering what enforcement action was necessary and proportionate to keep people safe as a result of this inspection. We will continue to discharge our regulatory enforcement functions required to keep people safe and to

hold providers to account where it is necessary for us to do so.

We identified a breach of Regulation 17 (Good governance) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. Please see the action we have told the provider to take at the end of this report.

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 continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.