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Archived: Excite Care LTD

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Unit 5, Goldsmith Way, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 7RJ (024) 7767 5004

Provided and run by:
Excite Care Limited

All Inspections

26 May 2016

During a routine inspection

This inspection visit took place on 26 May 2016 and was announced. The provider was given two days’ notice of our inspection visit to ensure the manager and care staff were available when we visited the agency’s office.

The service was last inspected in March 2014 when we found the provider was compliant with the essential standards described in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010.

Excite Care is a domiciliary care agency providing care for people in their own homes. Most people who used the service received support through several visits each day. On the day of our inspection the agency was providing support to 63 people with 29 members of care staff.

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 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. We refer to the registered manager as the manager in the body of this report.

People felt safe using the service and there were processes to minimise risks to people’s safety. These included procedures to manage identified risks with people’s care and for managing people’s medicines safely. Care staff understood how to protect people from abuse and keep people safe. The character and suitability of care staff was checked during recruitment procedures to make sure, as far as possible, they were safe to work with people who used the service.

There were enough care staff to deliver the care and support people required. Most people said care staff arrived around the time expected and stayed long enough to complete the care people required. People told us care staff were caring, kind and knew how people liked to receive their care.

Care staff received an induction when they started working for the service and completed regular training to support them in meeting people’s needs effectively. People told us care staff had the right skills to provide the care and support they required. Support plans and risk assessments contained relevant information for staff to help them provide the care people needed in a way they preferred.

Staff were supported by managers through regular meetings. There was an out of hours’ on call system in operation, which ensured management support and advice was always available for staff during their working hours. The manager understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA), care staff respected people’s decisions and gained people’s consent before they provided personal care.

Staff, people and their relatives felt the manager was approachable. People knew how to complain and information about making a complaint was available for people. Care staff said they could raise any concerns or issues with the managers. Communication was encouraged and identified concerns were acted upon by the manager and provider. The provider monitored complaints and made changes to the service in response to complaints.

There were systems to monitor and review the quality of service people received and to understand the experiences of people who used the service. This was through regular communication with people and staff, spot checks on care staff and a programme of other checks and audits. Where issues had been identified, the provider acted to make improvements.

During a check to make sure that the improvements required had been made

We carried out this desk based review to assess whether or not the provider had made the necessary improvements following our last inspection visit to this service.

At that inspection visit we found that people were at risk because systems and processes for the safe management of medicines were not in place.

We followed up on this area of non compliance by requesting information from the provider to demonstrate that action had been taken to address the issue. We were provided with documentary evidence that told us that compliance in this area had been achieved.

1 October 2013

During a routine inspection

We spoke with two members of the management team, the company trainer and six care staff, four of whom had been recruited recently. We observed policies and processes, reviewed four sets of staff records and five sets of care records. We also contacted five people who used the service or their families to gain insight of the care provided.

People using the service were happy with the care provided and told us that the staff were always professional and treated them with dignity and respect. One person said they were, "so grateful for all the care". Another told us they were, "very pleased with everyone".

Appropriate systems were in place to recruit staff and support training. We saw that staff received regular supervision and appraisal. Staff told us they were very satisfied with the training they received and felt supported to do their job well.

We found evidence of some quality management processes including complaints, compliments, spot checks and care reviews. However, as a new provider the agency needs to formalise its audit programme and provide an annual report on the learning from the reviews carried out during the year.

Staff received suitable training on medication and completed appropriate risk assessments. However, the support staff could give regarding medication needed clarifying and the assessment process for competence needed to be formally documented. Also, regular medication audits need to be completed and incidents appropriately recorded.

15 November 2012

During a routine inspection

When we visited Excite Care Limited we did so unannounced so that no one who worked for or used the service knew we were coming.

We met and spoke with the owner and the manager of the service. We also spoke by telephone with one person who used the service, three relatives of people who used the service and four staff. We did this so that we could find out about people's experiences.

People we spoke with, which included relatives, told us that they were satisfied with the service provided. "The staff are really good, they're very understanding" and "They're very good and willing to help you out with things" were two comments made.

We found that people had been assessed prior to using the service and that care and visit plans were in place which provided staff with enough information to care for people.

We found that people's confidential information was stored securely, and could be located and provided promptly.