Apex Prime Care - Andover

Updated 10 December 2019

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 Care Act 2014.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. 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.

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

We gave the service notice of the inspection. This was 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 21 November 2019 and ended on 22 November 2019. We visited the office location on 21 November.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. 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.

During the inspection

We spoke with six people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with six members of staff including the registered manager.

We reviewed a range of records. This included five people’s care records, staff files and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures, quality assurance records and meeting minutes.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We contacted professionals who regularly visit the service.

Updated 10 December 2019

About the service

Apex Prime Care – Andover is a domiciliary care providing personal care to people in their own homes. The service provides visits at key times of the day to support people to get up, go to bed and prepare meals. Visits last between 15 minutes and up to two hours.

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.

At the time of the inspection the service was providing personal care to 48 people in Andover and surrounding areas.

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

People told us they felt comfortable with staff and were confident in their ability to provide care safely. Care visits were planned to fit in with people’s routines. People told us staff were rarely late and no-one had experienced a missed visit. When care workers were running late the office would normally contact people to let them know.

Care plans contained information about people’s routines and how they wanted to be supported. Risk assessments had been completed about people’s homes and to record if there was a risk of falls. Some people had been identified as being at risk due to other circumstances related to their health and well-being. This was recorded in care plans and staff were able to describe how they supported people to mitigate the risk. However, the information had not been consistently documented in risk assessments. We have made a recommendation about this in the report.

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.

Staff received an induction when starting work at the service and completed a period of shadowing more experienced staff. New staff did not start working independently until they, and the registered manager, were confident of their abilities to deliver care. People were also asked for their feedback on new staff.

Staff knew people well and knew what was important to and for them. Where it had been identified as important, people were supported by a small group of care workers to support a consistent approach.

The service had moved from paper based records to an electronic system which staff were able to access on their mobile phones. Staff told us the sytem was effective. Office staff and the registered manager were alerted if any care tasks were missed.

There were systems in place for gathering the view of those connected to the service. People and staff told us they were able to raise ideas, concerns and complaints and believed these would be acted on appropriately.

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 good (published 25 April 2017).

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

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