Xperience Recruitment Limited

Xperience Recruitment Limited is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own homes. 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 inspection there were 52 people who received personal care.

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

The provider did not always fully understand the importance of the responsibilities of their role and some statutory requirements had not been met. Information we requested during our inspection was not always provided in a timely way.

The provider had systems and processes in place to maintain oversight of the service which included quality assurance audits and staff spot checks. However, some areas for improvement had not been identified.

Despite this, people and relatives told us the service was consistently well-led and the managers were always available. Staff also provided positive feedback about the management of the service and understood the provider's values.

People told us they received compassionate care from kind and caring staff. Staff knew people well and understood what was important to people. This included any religious and cultural beliefs.

People told us they felt protected from the risk of abuse and staff understood their safeguarding responsibilities and knew what to do if they had any concerns about people’s welfare. Overall, risks to people’s health and well-being had been identified and assessed. Records contained enough information to guide staff on how to mitigate risks and keep people safe. An environmental risk assessment was carried out of people’s home. This ensured the environment where care was being provided was safe for both the person and the staff member delivering care.

Where people required support to administer their medicines, staff administered these safely. Staff were proactive in ensuring people’s health needs were met. Where needs changed, referrals were made for specialist support such as occupational therapy.

There were enough staff to ensure people received timely care in their own homes. People using the service had a variety of different call times which had been scheduled to ensure staff had enough time to provide the care people needed. Overall, we received positive feedback from people and relatives about staff timekeeping.

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 worked in partnership with other organisations such as the local authority to support care provision and improve outcomes for people.

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 16 December 2017).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part by notification of an allegation of abuse. This incident is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken. As a result, this inspection did not examine the circumstances of the incident. However, the information shared with CQC about the incident indicated potential concerns about the management of safeguarding concerns. This inspection examined those risks.

We found no evidence during this inspection that people were at continuing risk of harm from this concern.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

When we last visited the service in May 2014, we were not able to carry out an inspection, because the service was dormant; no-one was receiving the regulated activity of ‘personal care’. The service had become active again in August 2017, so we scheduled this first comprehensive inspection under our new methodology.

The registered manager had been registered with us since February 2011. 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.

People were protected from the risks of harm or abuse because staff were trained in safeguarding and understood their responsibilities to raise any concerns with the registered manager. The registered manager made sure there were enough suitably skilled, qualified and experienced staff to support people safely and effectively.

People and their relatives were included in planning how they were cared for and supported. Risks to people’s individual health and wellbeing were assessed and their care was planned to minimise the risks.

The manager ensured staff had the necessary skills and experience to support people safely and effectively. They observed staff’s practice, arranged for them to attend regular training and supported them to obtain nationally recognised qualifications in health and social care.

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.

People were supported to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced diet that met their needs and preferences. People were supported to maintain their health.

People, relatives and staff felt well cared for. Staff understood people’s diverse needs and interests and supported them to enjoy their lives according to their preferences. Staff respected people’s right to privacy and supported people to maintain their independence.

People and relatives had no complaints about the service. People and relatives knew the registered manager well and were invited to share their views of the service through conversation and meetings with the registered manager.

The registered manager checked the quality of the service to make sure people’s needs were met safely and effectively. They understood that their personal, professional development enabled them to improve and develop the service.

Further information is in the detailed findings below

People we spoke with were positive about the care they received. People told us that care staff had the right training and that their knowledge and skills were adequate. One person told us that, 'The staff are good they treat me with respect.' Another person told us that, 'They are very good.'

We found there was no policy concerning people giving their consent to care they received and there were no consent documents on people's care records. However people who used the service told us that they were treated with respect and given choices. One person told us, 'They know how I like things done, they are always respectful."

We found that people who used the service did not have written information on how to make complaints. However, people who used the service told us they knew they could raise any concerns with the manager and that they would be acted upon. One relative we spoke with told us, "I only ever had one problem, I told the manager and they sorted it out."

People we spoke with told us that they were happy with the service they were receiving, and that staff were polite and treated them with respect. "The carers are polite and respectful." and "They maintain my husband's privacy when providing his care." were comments made to us.

We saw that people had been assessed prior to using the agency and that care plans were in place. We found that the care plans contained information to assist staff with meeting people's care needs.

We found that the agency sought the views of people with regards to the quality of care being provided.