Background to this inspection
Updated
28 November 2019
The inspection:
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.
Inspection team:
The inspection team consisted of one inspector.
Service and service type:
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults.
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:
The inspection was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We wanted to be sure that someone would be in to speak with us.
What we did:
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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as incidents and abuse. We used this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection:
We reviewed a range of records. This included four staff recruitment files, training records, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures and quality assurance processes developed and implemented by the provider. We reviewed four people’s care records. We spoke with four members of staff, including the registered manager, the care manager and care staff. We met with the registered manager in the office, and observed staff working in the office, dealing with issues and speaking with people over the telephone. During our inspection we spoke with six people and one relative over the telephone.
Updated
28 November 2019
About the service:
Acre Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. On the day of the inspection the service was supporting 61 people with a range of health and social care needs, such as people with a physical disability, sensory impairment or people living with dementia. Support was tailored according to people’s assessed needs within the context of people’s individual preferences and lifestyles to help people to live and maintain independent lives and remain in their homes. Not everyone using Acre Care Limited receives the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.
People’s experience of using this service:
People were happy with the care they received and felt relaxed with staff, they told us they were treated with kindness. People said they felt safe, were well supported and there were sufficient staff to care for them. One person told us, “Everyone is lovely and kind including the staff at the office. They’ve never let me down, I’ve landed on my feet with this lot”.
People’s independence was promoted and they told us their needs were met. People had a regular team of care staff who arrived on time and knew them well. One person told us, “They deserve every bit of credit they get, I look forward to them coming to me”.
People felt they were offered choice in the way their care was delivered and that they had no concerns around their dignity and privacy in their own homes being respected. A relative told us, “They were always so good with my [relative] even when he was playing them up. Always patient, kind and understanding”.
Staff had received essential training and feedback from people indicated that they knew the best way to care for people in line with their needs and preferences. 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.
The provider had systems of quality assurance to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement. These systems also supported people to stay safe by assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring that people were cared for in a person-centred way and that the provider learned from any mistakes.
People told us they thought the service was well managed and they received high quality care that met their needs and improved their wellbeing from dedicated and enthusiastic staff. One person told us, “I’ve been very impressed, I can’t fault them”.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 2 March 2017).
Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about this home and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Good. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.