AQS Homecare Dorset

Updated 29 August 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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, 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 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. Their area of expertise was with older people.

Service and service type

AQS Homecare Dorset is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means 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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit. We needed to be sure that people were informed that we would be contacting them by telephone, and we needed a manager to be available to facilitate this inspection.

Inspection activity started on 30 July 2019 and ended on 9 August 2019. We visited the office location on 30 July and 1 August 2019.

What we did before the 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 also spoke with commissioners of the service from the local social services department and clinical commissioning group to obtain their views about the service. We used all of this information to help us plan the inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we spoke with 15 people and 11 relatives or friends. We also spoke with the registered manager and five staff.

We reviewed a range of records including five care plans and medicines records, two staff files, staff rotas and training records and other information about the management of the service. This included quality assurance records and audits, medicines records and maintenance of equipment.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. This including seeking staff opinions via email and contacting health professionals and commissioners to ask for their view of the service. We received feedback from one health professional.

We also looked at training data and quality assurance records and analysed all the information we had gathered.

Updated 29 August 2019

About the service

AQS Homecare Dorset is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection 90 people were receiving care and support from the service.

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

People and relatives told us that the service provided staff who were caring and supportive. People received care that was responsive to their individual needs. Staff had a good understanding of how people preferred to have their care and support provided. People had access to healthcare services and were involved in decisions about their care. Partnerships with other agencies and health professionals enabled effective outcomes for people.

Staff supported people to take medicines safely. We have made a recommendation about the management of some medicines. Risks to people were assessed and regularly reviewed. Staff understood the actions needed to minimise the risk of avoidable harm including the prevention of avoidable infection. Staff had completed safeguarding training and understood their role in identifying and reporting any concerns of potential abuse or poor practice.

People felt listened to and consulted when planning and agreeing what care and support they needed. People and relatives told us they could confidently raise any concerns, and these were addressed appropriately.

There were sufficient numbers of trained, experienced staff to meet people’s needs. Safe recruitment practices were followed, and appropriate checks completed to ensure that only suitable staff were employed. Staff received induction and on-going training and support that enabled them to carry out their roles positively and effectively.

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 and where appropriate their relatives were involved in decisions about their care.

Governance systems and oversight of the service was robust. Issues were identified, and actions taken to address any shortfalls.

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 14 February 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.