We carried out a review of the data available to us about Elite Choice Home Care Limited on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Elite Choice Home Care Limited, you can give feedback on this service.
Elite Choice Homecare Limited is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people living in their own homes. The service primarily supports older people, people with physical disabilities and some people who are living with dementia.
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 the inspection the service was supporting 33 people.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were complimentary of the care and support that they received. People and their relatives confirmed that they felt safe and stated that they were supported by a regular team of care staff who treated them with dignity and respect.
Risks associated with people’s health and care needs were assessed and staff were given clear guidance and direction on how to manage identified risks so that people could be kept safe from harm.
People received their medicines on time and as prescribed. Medicine management systems in place supported this.
The service currently had appropriate staff availability to support people safely. Each staff had been checked and verified to ensure that they were safe and suitable to work with vulnerable adults.
People were supported to maintain a healthy and balanced diet where this was an identified need. Where required the service helped people to access appropriate health and social care services to promote and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Staff were regularly supported and trained so that they could effectively carry out their role.
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.
People told us that care staff were kind and caring. We were also told that staff knew people well and supported them in a person centred and individual way which was responsive to their needs.
Care plans were person centred and detailed every aspect of each person’s care and support needs and the ways in which people wanted to be supported with these.
People and their relatives knew who to speak with if they had any concerns or complaints to raise and were confident these would be addressed and resolved appropriately.
The registered manager and the management team had implemented several checks and audits to monitor and oversee the quality of care people received. This enabled the service to learn, develop and improve the quality of care provided.
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 21 June 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.
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 their relatives, said they felt safe with the staff. There were policies and procedures regarding the safeguarding of adults. Staff were aware of the correct procedures to follow if they considered someone was being neglected or poorly treated.
People received a reliable service from regular staff. There were sufficient numbers of suitably experienced staff employed to meet people’s needs. Thorough recruitment processes were in place for newly appointed staff to check they were suitable to work with people who may be at risk.
People said that they received care visits at the agreed times and that care staff always stayed for the full allocated time. Staff also said that they had sufficient time to care for people safely and they were not rushed.
People were supported by staff to take their medicines and this was recorded in their care records. Checks were carried out to ensure staff were competent to administer medicines and that staff were following the correct procedures.
Each person had a care plan which gave guidance to staff on supporting people safely. Risks to people were assessed and recorded. These included environmental assessments for people’s homes so staff knew any risks and what they should do to keep people and themselves safe.
There was suitable training, support and induction for staff so they could support people effectively. Staff told us they received regular training and that they had a good induction before they started to provide support to people.
The registered manager and staff understood people’s rights to be involved in decisions about their care and were able to tell us what consent to care meant in practice. People were supported to express their views and to be involved in making decisions about their care and support. The registered manager and staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act (MCA)) 2005 and associated legislation and knew what action to take if they thought a person lacked capacity to consent.
People were supported to eat and drink in line with their individual needs. The agency supported people to access healthcare professionals when needed.
People were supported by staff who were kind and caring. People were able to express their views and said they were encouraged to be independent as possible. People said they were treated with dignity and respect.
People said their needs were regularly reviewed and they were contacted on a regular basis to ensure that their current up to date needs were being met.
The provider had a policy and procedure for quality assurance. The registered manager and senior staff carried out checks to monitor the quality of the service provided. Regular quality monitoring visits were undertaken to check that the service provided by the agency was meeting people’s needs.
There was a positive culture at the agency that was open, inclusive and empowering. People said that they were aware who to speak to in order to raise concerns. The agency had a complaints procedure in place to respond to people’s concerns and to drive improvement.