• Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Archived: A & F Quality Care Services

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

64 Church Street, Old Town, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1QJ (01323) 729453

Provided and run by:
A & F Quality Care Services

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 31 January 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This was an announced inspection and was completed one inspector. We told the registered manager that we would be coming. We did this because they were sometimes out of the office visiting people who use the service and we needed to be sure they would be in.

Before the inspection we considered the information which had been shared with us by the local authority, we looked at notifications which had been submitted. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law.

During our inspection we went to the office and spoke to the registered manager. We reviewed the care records of five people that used the service. We spoke with the registered manager about the systems in place for monitoring the quality of care people received. We looked at a variety of the service’s policies such as those relating to safeguarding, medicines, complaints and quality assurance.

After the inspection visit we telephoned four people that used the service and their relatives to get their feedback about what it was like to receive care from the staff.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 31 January 2017

We undertook an announced inspection of A & F Quality Care Services a Domiciliary Care Agency (DCA) on 3 January 2017. We told the registered manager before our visit that we would be coming. We did this because they were sometimes out of the office visiting people who use the service and we needed to be sure they would be in.

This was the first inspection of the service since the provider registered with the Care Quality Commission in December 2014. The inspection involved a visit to the agency’s office and telephone conversations with people who used the service. At the time of the inspection four people were receiving personal care.

A & F Quality Care Services provides support for people who require a range of support related to their personal care, medicines and nutrition. Most people lived mostly independent lives but required support to help them maintain their independence. . Some people were living with the early stages of a dementia type illness or other long-term health related condition.

There was a registered manager at the service. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

Most of the care and support was being provided by the registered manager and the other director of the provider’s limited company. When extra staff were required these were provided on a day to day basis through a recruitment agency. The registered manager introduced the agency staff to people and ensured they had all the information they needed to support people. There were systems in place which would ensure any staff employed in the future were safely recruited and received the appropriate training and support.

People’s care was personalised to reflect their wishes and what was important to them. The registered manager had a good understanding of people’s needs, choices and preferences. People were visited at times that suited them, and they and their relatives spoke positively about the care and support they experienced. People spoke highly of the registered manager.

The registered manager had a good understanding of the risks associated with supporting people and the care people received was personalised and reflected their individual needs. However, care plans and risk assessments did not contain all the information about the care people required or received. This had a low impact on people because the registered manager had a good understanding of their needs and preferences and provided the majority of the care.

People told us they received the medicines they had been prescribed, when they needed them. There were systems in place to ensure medicines were safely managed. The registered manager had a good understanding of the procedures to follow to safeguard people from the risk of abuse and was aware of their individual responsibilities.

The registered manager understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and was knowledgeable about the requirements of the legislation. Decisions were made in people’s best interests although these had not always been recorded.

Where required people were supported to have enough to eat and drink and maintain a healthy diet. The registered manager knew people well and recognised when they may need to be referred to an appropriate healthcare professional for example the GP or district nurse.

People were asked for their feedback on a day to day basis. There was a process in place to develop a formal feedback system for people and staff as the service grew and staff were employed. The registered manager promoted an open and positive culture at the service. They had a good oversight of the service and had systems in place to support the service as it expanded and developed.