We carried out a review of the data available to us about Artius Care Ltd on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Artius Care Ltd, you can give feedback on this service.
Artius Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults living with families or in their own homes in the community. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 47 people living with frailty and other health related conditions, with the regulated activity of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
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 encouraged to make decisions about the care they received and were treated with dignity and respect by compassionate caring staff.
Care was delivered by staff who were trained and understood their roles and responsibilities.
The registered manager and senior staff carried out spot checks on staff to monitor the quality of the service provided and to seek people’s views. People, relatives and staff were encouraged to offer feedback. Staff felt well supported and people were confident in the service they received.
Quality assurance systems and practice identified potential issues, enabling prompt actions to be taken.
People were supported to access health care in a timely way and guidance for staff was available in care plans for known health conditions.
People who needed it were supported to eat and drink enough and their preferences were respected.
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 requires improvement (published 17 October 2019).
Why we inspected
We undertook this focused inspection to follow up on the two key questions which were judged requires improvement from the previous report. This report only covers our findings in relation to those Key Questions, Effective and Well-led. The ratings from the previous comprehensive inspection for the key questions not looked at on this occasion were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection. The overall rating for the service is now Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the 'all reports' link for Artius Care Ltd on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
Artius Care Limited is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to adults living with families or in their own homes in the community. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection the service was supporting 38 people living with frailty and other health related conditions, with the regulated activity of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
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. However, staff were unfamiliar with the Mental Capacity Act (2005).
We have made a recommendation for the provider to seek further guidance on the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) from a reputable source to improve staff knowledge.
Staff had not consistently completed refresher training on topics such as safeguarding, moving and handling practical and other training the provider had assessed as mandatory. This was an area needing improvement. Staff had a good knowledge and understanding of people's specific care needs and how they wished to be cared for and supported.
The quality assurance system contained an audit, although the provider had not yet fully utilised this. Improvements were needed in how the provider assessed, monitored and used their systems to drive improvements. The leadership in the service had recently changed and the current management team acted openly and responsively during the inspection ensuring they took immediate action to remedy any areas of improvement identified.
Staff received supervision and appraisals to support them in their role and identify any learning needs and opportunities for professional development.
Staff supported people to have enough to eat and drink and to make choices about what they ate and drank. People received appropriate healthcare support as and when needed and staff knew what to do to summon assistance.
People were given every opportunity to be valued and equal partners in decisions around their care and support. This was reflected in the good quality care and support people received, from a committed, passionate and caring group of staff. One person said, “I really appreciate the care. They do the things that suit me in the way I like them done. We do it together, so I feel I have the power. I’ll say, ‘I’m not safe doing that’ and they listen to that. It works for me.” One relative said, “It’s brilliant. I’ve got no complaints. [Person] loves them all and they love him. They always say, ‘Do you want me to do anything else.”
Staff liaised with health professionals and looked at ways to improve people's life experiences. One person had a health condition that quickly deteriorated, saying, “[Carer] said, ‘You’re very unwell, you need to go to the hospital.’ I said I didn’t want to go to the hospital, so they phoned [relative] with my consent and told them. They spoke to me and I went in. They (staff) were spot on. They saved my life. They’re very, very good.”
Senior staff carried out spot checks on staff to monitor the quality of the service provided and to seek the views of the people who were supported.
People, relatives and staff were encouraged to offer feedback. Staff felt well supported and people were confident in the service they received. One relative said, “I’ve done questionnaires in the past. They’re happy for us to contact them if we’ve got any concerns and they have a positive response. Our feedback is 99% positive. They like to know how they’re doing.”
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 (published 26 October 2017). Since this rating was awarded the registered provider of the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating at this inspection.
Why we inspected
We received concerns in relation to the skills and qualifications of staff. Concerns were shared regarding the provider’s quality assurance systems. As a result, we undertook a focused inspection to review the Key Questions of Effective and Well-led only.
We reviewed the information we held about the service. No areas of concern were identified in the other Key Questions. We therefore did not inspect them. Ratings from previous comprehensive inspections for those Key Questions were used in calculating the overall rating at this inspection.
The overall rating for the service has changed from Good to Requires Improvement. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
We have found evidence that the provider needs to make improvements. Please see the Effective and Well-Led sections of this full report.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Artius Care on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.
Artius Care Limited provides care for people in their own homes. Currently they were supporting 18 People. On the day of our visit the service was providing personal care to people of varying ages, with a range of needs including people living with dementia and people with physical disabilities.
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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
No one we spoke with had any concerns regarding the safety of people who used the service. There were policies and procedures regarding the safeguarding of adults. Staff were aware of the procedures to follow if they considered someone was at risk of abuse.
Risks to people were considered and risk assessments were contained in people’s care plans. These gave staff the information they needed to help keep people safe.
There were enough staff employed with suitable skills to support people effectively. Recruitment was thorough and suitable checks were carried out to check staff suitability to work with people who may be at risk.
There was a policy and procedure regarding staff supporting people to take their medicines and this was recorded in their care records. Only staff who had completed training and who were deemed competent to administer medicines were allowed to support people with their medicines.
Each person had a care plan which gave guidance to staff on the support people needed and how this should be provided.
Training and support was provided for staff and there was an induction for new staff which included shadowing an experienced staff member before they started to provide support to people.
Staff and people confirmed that before any care was provided consent was obtained. Staff had received training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005
Each member of staff was issued with a staff handbook to guide them on the agency’s policies and procedures.
People were given support to eat and drink in line with their care plan and their individual needs. Artius Care Limited supported people to access healthcare professionals as and when needed.
People told us that the staff who supported them were kind and caring. They confirmed they were able to express their views and that they were treated with dignity and respect. There was a clear complaints procedure to enable people to raise concerns and a copy was provided to people in their homes should they need to consult it..
People’s needs were regularly reviewed to ensure the support they were receiving was up to date and meeting their individual needs.
The provider had a policy and procedure for quality assurance. The registered manager and senior staff carried out spot checks on staff to monitor the quality of the service provided and to seek the views of the people who were supported by the service. Surveys were sent out to people, relatives and staff each year by the provider to seek their views on the service provided.