Archived: ECC Care

Updated 9 August 2017

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.

The inspection took place on 3 and 5 July 2017 and was announced. The registered provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in. People using the service and/or their relatives and staff were contacted by telephone on 6 July 2017. The inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

We reviewed the information we held about the service including statutory notifications. A statutory notification is information about important events which the registered provider is required to send us by law. We also reviewed the 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 improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with two people who used the service, two relatives, four members of staff, the nominated individual and the registered provider.

We reviewed five people’s care records and looked at staffing records for ten members of staff including recruitment and training. We also looked at the service’s arrangements for the management of medicines, complaints and quality monitoring and audit information.

Updated 9 August 2017

ECC Care is a domiciliary care service providing personal care and support to people in their own homes. The service was registered with the Care Quality Commission on 8 July 2016.

The inspection was completed on 3, 5 and 6 July 2017 and was announced. At the time of the inspection there were 13 people receiving support from the service.

The service did not have a registered manager in post. The previous registered manager had cancelled their registration on 5 June 2017. At the time of our inspection a member of staff employed by the provider had submitted an application to the Care Quality Commission to be formally registered. 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.

Risks associated with people’s individual health conditions were not always appropriately assessed. Effective guidance was not always in place for staff to follow to enable them to support people safely. Improvements were required to ensure recruitment procedures were robust prior to staff starting work at the service to check they were suitable to work with vulnerable people. The management of medicines was not always safe, no medication audits had been completed by the provider and staff competencies to administer medication had not been undertaken.

The provider lacked insight of their responsibilities and of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Where required, mental capacity assessments relating to people’s ability to consent to their care and support had not been completed. Furthermore, staff had not completed MCA training. This meant there was a risk that the care and support provided to people using the service was not being provided in a way that protected their rights.

Improvements were required to demonstrate that staff had completed a comprehensive induction when they started work at the service. Not all staff had received appropriate training to meet the individual needs of people using the service. The provider had not undertaken spot checks to check staff competencies to deliver safe and effective care.

Improvements were required to ensure effective and robust quality assurance processes were in place to drive improvements and ensure safe, effective and high quality care was being provided by staff who were adequately trained to do so.

People using the service felt safe with the staff who provided their care and support. There were safeguarding and whistle blowing policies in place to ensure people were protected from harm and abuse. Staff were aware of their responsibilities to keep people safe and to protect them from harm and abuse and how to appropriately report any concerns.

People and their relatives were positive about the service. They told us the service was reliable and that they received a good standard of care from a consistent staff team who were caring and kind and who treated them with dignity and respect. Staff knew the people they cared for well. Where required, people’s nutritional needs were met and they were supported to access health care services.

There was a complaints system in place and people told us that they were confident that any concerns would be listened to and acted upon.

Staff felt valued and enjoyed working for the service and shared the provider’s philosophy to providing a high quality service to people.

We found three breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what actions we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.