28 September 2017
During a routine inspection
Essence Homecare is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes, many of whom were older people, some of whom were living with dementia. There were 12 people receiving services from Essence Homecare at the time of our inspection.
The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have a legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
The provider assessed risks relating to people’s care and put plans in place to guide staff in mitigating the risks.
The provider recruited staff following robust procedures to check they were suitable to work with people and there were enough staff deployed to meet people’s needs.
People felt safe with the staff who cared for them and staff understood how to respond if they suspected anyone was being abused to keep them safe. Staff received training in safeguarding adults at risk from the provider to keep their knowledge current.
The provider managed people’s medicines safely and carried out competency assessments on staff to ensure they were fit to administer medicines to people.
The provider cared for people in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005. The provider had carried out mental capacity assessments regarding significant decisions in people’s care to determine if they lacked capacity. The provider made decisions in people’s best interests when they were found to lack capacity through consulting with others involved in their care.
The provider supported staff with a programme of induction, training and supervision.
People received the right support in relation to eating and drinking and the provider supported people to access the healthcare services they needed where this was part of their care package.
Staff treated people with kindness, dignity and respect and understood the needs of the people they were caring for. People were supported to maintain their independence.
People received care based on their needs and wishes. The provider reviewed people’s care to ensure it remained responsive to their needs. The provider encouraged feedback from people and their relatives and a suitable complaints policy was in place.
People were not always provided with information when they needed it. The provider did not always tell people which staff would be providing care to them, and did not always inform people if care workers were going to be late. However, the provider told us they would improve their communication with people in relation to this.
The registered manager, care-coordinator and other staff had a good understanding of their role and responsibilities. The provider had audits in place to monitor, assess and improve the quality of service including gathering feedback from people, relatives and staff about their care.