The Care Quality Commission
  • Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Archived: Applejack Homecare Limited

Unit B5, Durham Dales Centre, Castle Gardens, Stanhope, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL13 2FJ (01388) 311522

Provided and run by:
Applejack Home Care Limited

All Inspections

30 January 2014

During a routine inspection

We found Applejack Home Care Limited had been acquired by Choice Health Care (Applejack) Limited. At the time of the inspection we had not been informed about this in writing, nor had the registered manager's notified us about this change. We will follow this up with the provider to ensure they are appropriately registered and report on this separately.

People told us about the care they received and one person said 'On the whole it is pretty good.' Another person said 'I am quite satisfied.' We found care plans and risk assessments in place which detailed people's needs.

We saw permission had been sought from people to provide the care and the staff knew to ask permission from people when they were in their homes.

We also found the provider had taken steps to make sure only suitable people were employed to work in the service. This was because thorough background checks had been carried out.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.

From our last inspection we saw improvements had been made to record keeping.

3 October 2012

During a routine inspection

We spoke with seven people as part of our inspection. Everyone told us the staff treated them with respect and were always polite and caring. One person said 'They are very good. I couldn't manage without them'. Another said 'You look forward to your carer coming; they're very friendly.'

People told us they usually had the same staff team coming to their home. One person said 'I get on very well with the girls' and another said 'They are lovely in the office too."

People told us their privacy and dignity was maintained as far as possible. Comments included, 'The carers respect my home and my privacy."

Everyone we spoke with expressed satisfaction and were happy with the care provided. One person told us 'They prompt me about my medication and always check I have taken it which is very good as sometimes I forget." Another said, 'They were excellent in the winter; they got to me every day, which was amazing given the weather."

Other comments included, 'They've never been more than a few minutes late and have never missed an appointment' and 'If they are going to be late, they always ring and let me know."

People told us they felt able to say if they were unhappy. One person said 'I raised an issue regarding one of the carers once and it was resolved almost straight away." Another said, I have absolutely no complaints at all but I have a number to call the office if there is a problem."