AQS Hampshire East

Updated 5 August 2025

Date of inspection: 12 August 2025 to 08 September 2025. AQS Homecare Hampshire is a domiciliary care agency and provides personal care to people living in their own homes. CQC only inspects where people are receiving the regulated activity personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. At the time of this inspection 12 people were receiving support with personal care. This was a comprehensive assessment of all 5 key questions triggered by our ongoing monitoring of the service. We reviewed all 33 quality statements related to the 5 key questions, Is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

We found a breach of regulation in relation to good governance. We found concerns in relation to the robustness of the governance systems and records. Quality monitoring systems and records needed to be strengthened to ensure any shortfalls would be identified promptly going forward. You can find more details of our concerns in the quality statement findings.

Records of people’s risks were not always managed effectively and did not always support staff to keep people safe. Medicines records did not show people were always supported safely. Records in people’s homes in relation to fire needed to be more robust and in line with the provider’s policy. There were enough staff deployed to meet people's needs. Staff were recruited safely and were provided with training to support them in their roles. Staff told us they felt supported by the manager and were provided with supervisions. People were supported to have choice and control and were involved in planning their care. Staff were kind and caring and had a good understanding of how to meet people’s needs. There was a system in place to allow people to express any concerns or complaints they may have.

We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

Updated 5 August 2025

People felt safe and comfortable in their own homes. People felt there were enough staff to support them. They were positive about the punctuality, skills and knowledge of the staff. They told us that the staff were kind and friendly. People were happy with the service and felt they could raise concerns and these would be addressed. People were happy with their care and felt it was personalised to their needs. People told us that the management team were generally approachable. Comments from people included, “I have a nice relationship with the care staff, and we always talk”, “The carers are excellent” and “I give them nine out of ten. So far, I believe the agency is doing well. The management is approachable, and I can raise anything.” A relative said, “My (relative) has their favourite staff. Laughs and jokes with them. Trusts them and likes their visits.”