Archived: Ace Community Care Ltd

Updated 6 July 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 undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

This service 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 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 48 hours’ 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 24 June 2019 and ended on 26 June 2019. We visited the office location on 24 June 2019.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and health and social care professionals who work with the service. 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 visited the office location and spoke with the registered manager. We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records. We obtained feedback from three health professionals who had worked with the service and a representative from the local authority contact monitoring team. We spoke with four people who used the service about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with two members of staff to gather their views about the training and support provided for them.

Updated 6 July 2019

About the service

Ace Community Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. It provides a service to older adults and people living with dementia or a physical disability.

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 this inspection 29 people used the service.

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

People were safe because staff could recognise when people were at risk of harm and knew how report any concerns appropriately. Risks to people's health, safety and well-being were assessed, and measures introduced to remove or reduce the risks. People were supported by safely recruited staff. People’s medicines were managed safely, staff had received training and competency assessments to help ensure they were skilled in this area. Staff had received training in infection control and gloves and aprons were provided for them. The management team took appropriate actions following incidents and learning was shared with staff.

Before care delivery started assessments were undertaken to make sure the service could meet people's needs. Care plans were developed from these assessments for each person’s identified needs. Staff received training and support to enable them to carry out their roles effectively. Staff prepared simple meals for people as needed and encouraged them to take fluids to maintain their health and wellbeing. Staff and management knew people well and could promptly identify when people's needs changed and sought professional advice appropriately. Mental capacity assessments were carried out where needed to establish if people making decisions affecting their lives had the capacity to do so.

People praised the kind and caring nature of staff. People received consistent care from a small team of staff. People told us they knew about their care plans and they could decide what care and support they needed. People’s records were held securely in a locked cabinet within a locked office to help promote confidentiality. People received care and support as they wished. People told us they would be confident to raise any concerns with the management team. However, everyone we spoke with during this inspection was satisfied with the care and support they received.

The registered manager was committed to providing a high standard of care to the people they supported and understood their responsibilities under the Duty of Candour. People and staff members spoke highly of the registered manager and told us that they were always available and supportive. People told us that they were asked for their views about the quality of the service.

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 requires improvement. (Last report published 28 June 2018) The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made.

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.