Archived: Attentive Care Experts

Updated 17 May 2018

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 inspection took place on 17 April 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection to ensure the registered manager would be available to meet with us. The inspection team consisted of one adult social care inspector.

Prior to the inspection we reviewed all the information we had about the service including statutory notifications and other intelligence. We also contacted the local authority commissioning and contracts department, safeguarding, infection control and the Clinical Commissioning Group to assist us in planning the inspection. We reviewed all the information we had been provided with from third parties to fully inform our approach to inspecting this service.

Before the inspection, the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. This information was used to help inform our inspection.

During our visit to the office we spent time looking at three people’s care plans, we also looked at five records relating to staff recruitment and training and various documents relating to the service’s quality assurance systems. We spoke with the registered manager, recruitment manager, operations and training co-ordinator and the care co-ordinator. Following the inspection a second adult social care inspector spoke with four people who used the service, three relatives of people who used the service, one senior independent living assistant and four independent living assistants on the telephone.

Updated 17 May 2018

Attentive Care Experts is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection the service was providing care and support to 41 people.

At our last inspection we rated the service good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.

The service had a registered manager in place. 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.

Staff understood how to keep people safe from harm. Recruitment procedures were thorough and there was a system in place to reduce the risk of late or missed calls. Medicines were managed safely and were only administered by staff who had received appropriate training.

The registered manager and staff understood their responsibilities in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

The registered manager ensured staff had the skills and knowledge to enable them to meet people’s needs. This was achieved through a programme of induction, alongside regular training and management supervision.

People told us staff were caring and kind. People's rights to privacy and dignity were understood and promoted by staff. Choices were respected and staff encouraged people to retain their independence. Peoples care records were reflective of their needs.

People felt able to complain in the event they were unhappy with the service they received. There were effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided, understand the experiences of people who used the service and identify any concerns.