Background to this inspection
Updated
17 January 2019
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, 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 was undertaken by two adult social care inspectors.
Service and service type: Apollo Care (Wirral) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care support to people 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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and we needed to be sure that someone would be available.
Inspection site visit activity started on 18 December 2018 and ended on 19 December 2018. It included a visit to the registered location, telephone calls to people receiving support from the service and feedback from staff through telephone calls and emails. We visited the office location on 18 December 2018 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.
What we did:
Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service. This included the statutory notifications sent to us by the provider about incidents and events that had occurred at the service. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send to us by law. We also contacted the commissioners of the service to gain their views.
The provider had completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and any improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan how the inspection should be conducted.
During the inspection we spoke with the registered manager, four people using the service and received feedback from six other members of staff.
We looked at three people’s care files, three staff recruitment records, medicine administration charts and other records relevant to the quality monitoring of the service.
Updated
17 January 2019
About the service: Apollo Care (Wirral) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care support to people in their own homes. The service was supporting 31 people with a regulated activity (personal care), at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service:
Safe recruitment practices had been followed, however records required improvement to clearly reflect this. We have made a recommendation about staff recruitment.
Sufficient numbers of staff had been recruited. People told us staff usually arrived at the time they expected them and stayed for the contracted amount of time.
People told us they received safe care. Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures and how to raise any concerns they had. Risks to people had been assessed and measures put in place to reduce these risks.
Medicines were managed safely and staff completed training regarding this.
People’s nutritional needs were known and met by staff. People told us they always received their choice of food and enjoyed the meals prepared for them.
Staff felt well supported in their role and able to raise any issues with senior staff and the registered manager. Regular training had been completed by staff and they received supervisions and an annual appraisal to further support them in their posts.
The Service worked with other professionals and agencies to help ensure people’s needs were met effectively. Advice provided was clearly recorded and followed by staff.
Consent to care and treatment was sought in line with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People told us staff always asked for their consent before providing support.
People told us staff were kind and caring and that their dignity was protected by staff. This was also reflected within the responses to surveys and within the compliment cards displayed in the office. People usually received support from the same carers and staff told us they knew the people they supported well, including their needs and preferences.
Care plans reflected people’s needs, however there was limited person-centred information recorded within them. The registered manager was aware of this and had begun updating and improving the plans of care. The care files had been reviewed regularly and people were involved in these reviews.
Systems were in place to gather feedback from people regarding the service and action was taken to improve the service, based on the feedback. The registered manager also completed regular audits and addressed any areas identified as requiring improvement in order to improve the service provided to people.
Rating at last inspection: Good (Last report published July 2016).
Why we inspected: This was a scheduled inspection based on previous rating.
Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.