Aquarius Home Care

• Aquarius Home Care Limited is a domiciliary care provider and provides care and support in people’s own homes. At the time of this inspection three people were receiving personal care from the service. The service is registered to support older people, some of who may be living with dementia and people with physical disabilities.

• Not everyone using the service received a regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service:

• People and their relatives told us care staff delivered safe care and support.

• Staff understood how to raise concerns both within and outside of the service should they need to. People and staff felt they were listened to and that their ideas and any concerns they may have were addressed.

• People received their medicines safely.

• Staff knew people well and provided support in the way people wanted.

• Observations by the management team of staff practice ensured staff were competent in their roles.

• People were involved in decisions about their care. Staff sought appropriate consent and asked people what help they needed.

• People received care that respected their privacy and dignity as well as promoting their independence wherever possible.

• The service was well-led by a management team who demonstrated compassion and commitment to the needs of the people who used the service as well as the staff who worked for them.

More information is in Detailed Findings below.

Rating at last inspection. Not rated:

• At our inspection in June 2018 the service only provided personal care and support for one person and we did not have enough information to rate the service. At this inspection the service provided care and support to three people and we were able to obtain the experiences of a sufficient number of people using the service to give a rating to each of the five questions and an overall rating for the service.

Why we inspected:

• This was a planned, announced comprehensive inspection as part of our inspection schedule methodology for services.

Follow up:

• We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about this service and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated as Good.

Aquarius Home Care Limited is a care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. The service is registered to provide care for older people some of who may be living with dementia and or a physical disability.

This is the first comprehensive inspection of the service since registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April 2017. At the time of the inspection the service provided care to two people however one person was in hospital and not receiving care. This meant that although we were able to carry out an inspection we did not have enough information about the experiences of a sufficient number of people using the service over a period of time to give a rating to each of the five questions and an overall rating for the service.

The service did not have a registered manager. The previous registered manager had left the service on 10 April 2018 however the provider had taken appropriate steps to engage a replacement who was due to commence employment in June 2018. In the absence of a registered manager the service was being led by the nominated individual. 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.

People were safe because staff understood their role and responsibilities to keep them safe from harm.

Staff had a good knowledge of the provider’s whistleblowing policy and procedures which meant they were able to raise concerns to protect people from unsafe care.

People were supported by staff who respected their dignity and maintained their privacy.

The care plan we reviewed reflected the person’s individual needs and preferences and was regularly reviewed to ensure that they continued to meet the person’s needs. Risk had been assessed and reviewed regularly to ensure people’s individual needs were being met safely.

Recruitment processes ensured people were cared for by suitable staff. There were sufficient numbers of staff deployed to meet people’s needs and to keep them safe from harm.

Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and their responsibilities to ensure that people who were unable to make their own decisions about their care and support were protected.

There was an effective complaints system in place.

Systems were in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided however we were unable to assess fully the effectiveness of the policies and procedures in place due to the limited service being provided and minimal number of staff employed.