Archived: Elite Carers & Home Support Ltd

At the last comprehensive inspection on 3 February 2016, the service was rated Good.

At this announced inspection on 11 and 18 June 2018, we found the service remained 'Good'.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses. It provides a service to older adults.

Elite Carers provides care and support to people living in the Leicester and Leicestershire area so they can continue to live in their own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 15 people using the service.

The service had a registered manager. 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People and relatives told us that they were supported by very kind, caring and compassionate staff that often went the extra mile to provide them with exceptional care. The staff and the management team were extremely passionate about providing people with support that was based on their individual needs, goals and aspirations. We saw that people were at the centre of their care and goals and achievements were celebrated. Each person was treated as an individual and as a result, their care was tailored to meet their exact needs.

The staff and the management team were always available and listened to people and their relatives, offered them choices and made them feel that they mattered. The staff were passionate about the person-centred approach of the service. Without exception, people spoke positively about their experience of the service and it was clear the culture within the service valued people as individuals.

People continued to receive safe care. Staff had been provided with safeguarding training to enable them to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse and how to report them. There were risk management plans in place to protect and promote people’s safety. Staffing numbers were appropriate to keep people safe and the registered provider followed thorough recruitment procedures to ensure staff employed were suitable for their role.

People’s medicines were managed safely and in line with best practice guidelines. Systems were in place to ensure that people were protected by the prevention and control of infection. There were arrangements in place for the service to make sure that action was taken and lessons learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service

People’s needs and choices were assessed and their care provided in line with best practice that met their diverse needs. Staff received an induction process when they first commenced work at the service and received on-going training to ensure they were able to provide care based on current practice when supporting people.

People received enough to eat and drink and staff gave support when required. People were supported to use and access a wide variety of other services and social care professionals. The staff had a good knowledge of other services available to people and we saw these had been involved with supporting people using the service. People were supported to access health appointments when required, including opticians and doctors, to make sure they received continuing healthcare to meet their needs.

People were listened to, their views were acknowledged and acted upon and care and support was delivered in the way that people chose and preferred. Records showed that people and their relatives were involved in the care planning process. There was a complaints procedure in place to enable people to raise complaints about the service.

The management and leadership within the service had a clear structure and the management team were knowledgeable about people's needs and key issues and challenges within the service. Staff felt supported and valued. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the care provided and to ensure the values; aims and objectives of the service were met. The registered manager was aware of their responsibility to report events that occurred within the service to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and external agencies.

The service had a registered manager. 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 told us they felt safe with the staff team from Elite Carers & Home Support ltd. They told us they were looked after well and their relatives agreed. The management team and support worker we spoke with knew their responsibilities for keeping people safe and knew the signs to look out for should they become concerned for someone.

The majority of risks associated with people’s care and support had been assessed, though the risks associated with dealing with one person’s finances had not. This was immediately addressed and showed us that the management team took the risks to people using the service seriously.

An appropriate recruitment process was followed to make sure that only suitable people worked at the service. Once recruited new members of staff had been provided with an induction into the service and relevant training had been completed.

The staff team understood their responsibilities around medicines and understood what they could and could not do when supporting people.

People were provided with care and support from a staff team who knew them well, who arrived on time, stayed the right amount of time and who never missed a visit.

The support worker we spoke with felt supported by the management team and they told us there was always someone available to speak with should they need any help or advice.

A comprehensive assessment had been carried out prior to people’s care and support commencing and the people using the service had been involved in the development of their plan of care.

The management team and the support worker we spoke with understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and their responsibilities around it. People using the service told us that the staff team always obtained their consent before they provided their care and support.

People’s wellbeing was supported and maintained. People were supported to access healthcare services when needed and they received on-going healthcare support.

People told us that the staff team were kind and caring. They told us that they were provided with choices when they were being assisted and their care and support was provided in a way they preferred.

People using the service and their relatives knew what to do if they were unhappy with the service they received. They knew who to speak with and were confident that any concerns would be dealt with properly and in a timely manner.

People had the opportunity to be involved in how the service was run. They were asked for their opinions of the service on a regular basis. This was through the use of surveys and visits to people’s homes. This was to make sure that they remained happy with the service they received.

The management team monitored the service being provided on an on-going basis to ensure that the care and support that people received, was the best that it could be.