Archived: Premier Care At Home

Updated 21 February 2020

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

One inspector completed this inspection.

Service and service type

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

The provider is in day to day control of the service and is registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they 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 would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 22 January 2020 and ended on 24 January 2020. We visited the office on the 23 January 2020.

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 reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We asked the local authority and Healthwatch Rochdale for their views of the service. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. Neither organisations had any concerns. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with four people who used the service and a family member in their own homes. We spoke with four people and two family members over the telephone. We spoke with them about the experience of care provided. We spoke with four care staff and the provider.

We reviewed a range of records including quality assurance questionnaires, care records and other documents related to the management of the service.

Updated 21 February 2020

About the service

Premier Care at Home is a Domiciliary Care Agency based in Rochdale which provides care and support to people living in their own homes. There were 23 people who currently used the service.

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

Recommendations made at the last inspection for the administration of medicines had been adhered to and met the required standard. Safeguarding policies, procedures and staff training helped protect people from harm. Risk assessments helped protect the health and welfare of people who used the service. There were sufficient staff numbers to meet people’s needs.

People were supported to live healthy lives because they had access to professionals, a well-trained staff team and a choice of a nutritious diet. The service worked with other organisations to provide effective and consistent care. 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 were treated as individuals which helped protect their dignity. Staff were trained in equality and diversity. People’s equality and diversity was respected by a caring staff team and where they wished they were supported to continue with their religious needs.

People told us they felt able to raise any concerns. Activities were provided as part of people’s care package. Plans of care provided staff with necessary information to meet people’s needs. Arrangements were made to care for people at the end of their lives, when required.

The provider knew people well. People, family members and staff said managers were available and approachable. People and staff were able to air their views about how the service was run. The provider regularly audited key aspects of running the service such as plans of care and went out on visits to check staff competency.

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 (final report published 14 July 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.